


It's Stupid

by Vegetatarian



Category: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball AU - Fandom
Genre: Awesome Bulma Briefs, Bottom Son Gohan, Bulma Fucking Briefs, Bulma is totes top, Complicated Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friendship, Love, Planet Vegeta, Prince Vegeta - Freeform, Prince of all Saiyans, Romance, Saiyan Culture, Saiyans, Sex, Team Four Star, Vegeta being Vegeta (Dragon Ball), Vegeta is a power bottom, Videl is a crazy bitch, heavily inspired by dbza, please watch dragon ball z abridged if you haven't already; it's on youtube, tfs inspired, tien's third eye sees bullshit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2020-10-11 08:56:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20543498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vegetatarian/pseuds/Vegetatarian
Summary: Howdy pardners. Here's yet another Vegebul fic. Our favorite power couple is slow to warm up to each other in this fic but it's all in good fun! This Vegeta is not so in touch with his feelings; he’s more closed off — especially considering he works for a psychotic blood thirsty galactic tyrant. I love Frieza though, and I love to hate him, wouldn't you agree? Vegeta wants so desperately to be free of Frieza's rule over him and his saiyan brethren. So much so, in fact, he'll team up with the idiot he hates the most, Son Goku, in order to be freed. Veggie won't admit it, but Goku is his best bud.





	1. Bubblegum

It didn’t take much for a Saiyan Elite to wipe out his enemies, but for a certain Saiyan Prince, it was even easier. Vegeta had an easily set off temper, and most were wise enough to know better than to test his patience. Unfortunately, his cohort, Nappa, wasn’t always smart about what he said in Vegeta’s presence, and often felt the force of Vegeta’s fist against his jaw for speaking out of turn. Vegeta, though shorter than the average Saiyan, was known to be one of the fiercest. His wrath was feared by most in the universe, and even his fellow Saiyan elites submitted to him as the alpha. The only one that knew prince and wasn’t afraid was the evil overlord, Frieza. Frieza had enslaved the Saiyan race and Vegeta reluctantly swallowed his pride whenever in Frieza’s presence. 

“Well where the hell is it, Zarbon? And why haven’t you had Dodoria contact me yet with updates? I swear, sometimes I wonder if those pathetic monkeys will eventually take your places.” Frieza said, his tail flipping about in irritation. His high effeminate voice echoed throughout the room where Vegeta was knelt down in front of him as he paced back and forth berating his right hand man, Zarbon. Zarbon was a light sea-green skinned humanoid with bright green hair braided down to the middle of his back. He was considerably taller than Frieza and Vegeta; closer to Nappa’s height. He fidgeted nervously as Frieza became more and more irritated. Vegeta kept his head down until Freiza addressed him. 

“Lord Frieza, I’ve done my absolute best to contact Dodoria but his scouter is turned off and I can’t track his location. Also, the planet you’ve requested is still in the process of being found. Its last known location turned out to be false information, but we’re doing our very best to locate it so that you may sell it.” Zarbon answered, sweat beading on his forehead. 

Freiza slammed his tail onto the floor, causing the room to shake, and turned to face Vegeta who still had his head down and had not reacted at all to the obvious fury radiating from Frieza. “Vegeta.”

“Yes, Lord Frieza.” Vegeta answered, his gaze still directed at the floor. 

“Track down Dodoria. Unless he has a reason that satisfies you as to why I had to send you out to look for him and why he hasn’t answered his damn scouter, kill him. I don’t need slackers and he can easily be replaced. You would do well to keep that in mind as well, Zarbon. Vegeta, I’m giving you a week and a half to track down Dodoria and to rest. You’ve served me well and I wouldn’t want the only competent one in my stead to be exhausted beyond top performance.” Freiza said coldly. Frieza turned back to Zarbon. “Why are you still standing there, Zarbon? You have a job to do, now go.” He raised his voice. 

Zarbon scurried off like a frightened rodent, while Vegeta calmly stood from his kneeling position. “Anything else, Lord Freiza?” 

Frieza smiled. “No that’ll be all, monkey. Carry on.” he waved Vegeta off nonchalantly, not noticing Vegeta’s face twitch in annoyance at the word “monkey”. 

Vegeta spun a perfect 180 on his heel and swiftly walked out of the room and down the long hallway toward the barracks. He was exhausted. When he arrived into his room, he kicked off his boots and rubbed his temples with his fingers. “Zarbon, that blundering idiot. I’ll never understand why Freiza entrusts high profile tasks to such an idiot. He makes all of our lives miserable with his constant blunders.” Vegeta muttered to himself as he took the rest of his uniform off and collapsed into bed. Roughly 9 hours later, Vegeta woke up and hit the showers. He had a job to do and he was going to get it done before the deadline because he knew Freiza’s brand of generosity was not only temporary, but it was often subject to change. He was not about to face any sort of punishment from the cruel overlord by slacking off. He also wouldn’t be caught dead soiling his pride by being anything less than the best. He called in his squad and told them to meet him at the hangar where their elite squad ship was waiting for them. 

As Vegeta marched into the hangar, he grinded his teeth at the sound of a shrill voice screeching at his squad. 

“Keep your big stupid hands off my tech! Who do you think you are?” The voice screeched. 

Vegeta clenched his fists. His hearing was considerably more fine tuned than what other species possessed, along with his other senses, so this wailing voice was beginning to really give him a headache. Vegeta finally stepped around the ship to find his teammates, Raditz, Nappa, Tama, and Tarble, being yelled at by someone in a mechanic’s outfit. The person was short and had their arms flailing about as they yelled at the Saiyan men who had troubled and confused expressions on their faces. 

“Captain!” Raditz shouted as he noticed Vegeta come round the corner. 

The person in the mechanic coveralls turned around and Vegeta was hit with a sight he didn’t expect. A set of big, sparkling, blue eyes were staring fiercely in his direction. “Tell your stupid squad to keep their filthy caveman hands off my tech or I’ll kick some ass!” The person squealed. It appeared to be female, but Vegeta honestly couldn’t tell. Nor did he care. He said nothing, but grunted as he gestured with his head for his team to board their ship. 

“Do you hear me?” The person screeched. 

Vegeta spun around and grabbed them by the throat and lifted them into the air. “Hear me, I do not take orders from a lowly mechanic. Your job is to serve us, not the other way around. Do I make myself clear?”

The person struggled and clawed at Vegeta’s hand, the struggle causing their hat to fall off and long blue hair to spill over their shoulders. Vegeta let go and they fell to the floor, and collapsed onto their knees. 

“You jerk! How could you treat such a beautiful girl like that? Do you have any idea who I am?” So it is a female. Vegeta thought to himself. 

“No, woman, and I don’t care who you are. Get back to work before you have to learn the hard way about who I am.” Vegeta walked onto the ship and instantly they blasted off into space. 

The woman muttered insults as she picked herself up and rubbed her throat. She was none other than Bulma Briefs, daughter of Dr. Briefs, and the now owner of Capsule Corp. She had taken over the family business as her father had gotten older and decided to travel space with his wife, Bunny. Being that Bulma was a soul always hungry for adventure, she had taken a job on Frieza planet 229 and had been hired instantly as a weapons tech designer and engineer as well as a mechanic. She’d confidently accepted the job and had eagerly begun her work around the Saiyan species. It was no foreign species to her, being that her best friend since childhood, Son Goku, was also of the Saiyan race. She didn’t know much about the Saiyans that she worked for, but she did know who Raditz was and had a fairly decent working relationship with him, being that he was Goku’s brother. She didn’t really care to make friends where she worked, considering most Saiyans tended to be stupid cavemen types that only cared about being brawny and obnoxious, but one thing was for sure, she wanted to sucker punch the jackass that just grabbed her by the throat. She’d get her revenge on that smug bastard one way or another. 

“I can’t believe I have to find that pink asshole and drag him back to base.” Vegeta said, clenching a fist as he sat in the commander seat of the ship. They’d been searching for four days already.

“Well, you may not have to drag him back here, Captain. After all, Freiza did leave Dodoria’s fate up to you, so you could very well just kill him and no one would care. Not even Freiza.” Raditz chuckled. 

Vegeta’s grouchy expression faded into a more amused one hearing what Raditz said. “That’s true, and I don’t think this ship could handle all of the extra weight, so we practically don’t have a choice, now do we?”

The men all smiled. “No Captain, we certainly don’t.”

“You know, I don’t think I could take the sickeningly sweet scent that radiates off of him anyway. What’s that smell called, anyway? I’m sure there’s something he smells like.” Nappa pondered. 

“He smells like chewing gum!” Tama chirped. 

“Yeah, yeah, but not like regular chewing gum. The humans chew different kinds and Dodoria smells like a particular kind.” Tarble agreed. The men all sat in silence trying to figure out what kind of gum Dodoria smelled like. It was an insignificant thing to worry about, but it wasn’t like they had anything better to do. 

Vegeta rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what they were getting at, but he decided not to enlighten them right away so as to remain the intelligent badass that he knew he was. Upon arrival of the final place they had thought to look for him, Vegeta and his squad quickly locked onto Dodoria’s scent and walked into a bar where they found the pink blob slamming a pint of beer. 

Vegeta raised his hand, pointing his index finger at the pint glass, and let a concentrated blast of ki shoot at the glass, shattering it and causing Dodoria to look in his direction. Vegeta smirked. “Sup, bubblegum?”

The other men whooped and hollered. “Oh! Bubblegum! Of course! That’s the sickening sweet smell!” They all laughed. 

“Vegeta, what the hell are you doing here?” Dodoria drunkenly stumbled over to the prince. 

“Freiza sent me to find you and eliminate you if you didn’t have a good enough reason by my judgement as to why I had to be sent to fetch you. And by the looks of it, I get to do my favorite thing in the world and eliminate one large piece of pink scum. Before I kill you, though, enlighten me on why you haven’t reported back to base.” Vegeta spoke smugly, knowing he was about to destroy Dodoria in a single blast. 

“I was robbed on the way to Planet Drexis, and not only did they take my ship, but they destroyed my scouter.” Dodoria smirked. “Looks like you won’t be killing me after all, little prince.”

Vegeta’s smirk faded quickly at the derogatory term. 

Nappa and the rest of the squad winced at the word “little” knowing it was a trigger to Vegeta’s temper. Though Vegeta wasn’t particularly tall, he did not like synonyms of “small” being used on him or in reference to him. He was royalty, and his pride was everything to him. The smile slowly crept back onto Vegeta’s face, causing Dodoria to stop smirking and the smugness on his face quickly turned to concern. Vegeta began to chuckle. 

“What’sssso funny?” Dodoria nervously blurted out, still slurring his words. 

“Well, it would seem you aren’t very good at listening, Dodoria. See, Freiza left it up to me to decide whether or not your excuse was good enough. And made it crystal clear you could easily be replaced. You and your idiot friend, Zarbon. And being that you’ve decided it wise to refer to me as little, I think I’ve made up my mind as to whether or not you get to live.” Vegeta continued to chuckle. “Also, even if you had been respectful, Dodoria, the squad you were sent with all still have their ruby red scouters, which I can see from here. So don’t beat yourself up too much for running at the mouth - you never stood a chance anyway.” Vegeta smiled evilly. “Sleep tight.” Vegeta raised his palm and pointed it at Dodoria, his squad members all following his lead, and all at once they released devastating streams of ki right at Dodoria instantly incinerating him. 

Vegeta then turned to look at the rest of Dodoria’s squad. “I suggest you lot get your asses on our ship before I decide I have to tell Frieza you died in a horrible accident.”

The other men jumped and quickly ran to the ship, terrified of what Vegeta might do if he lost his patience with them. Vegeta shook his head and walked over to the bartender. “A glass of water.”

The bartender nervously complied and nearly dropped the glass as he was handing it to Vegeta with quivering hands. Vegeta drank the water and set the glass back down on the countertop and walked away without another word to the shaking bartender. The prince walked back to his ship with the rest of the men, and headed back to base where he’d all but celebrate the fact that he finally got to shut Dodoria up. As he stepped off of the ship, he was adjusting his gloves when he looked to the side and nearly toppled over at what he saw. Some woman was bent over one of the ship engines and was wearing tightly fitted red shorts that left little to the imagination. A pair of porcelain legs were exposed and it was all Vegeta could do not to stare at the perfect peach shaped ass right in his line of sight. His jaw nearly dropped when the woman stood up and he realized it was the blue haired devil from earlier. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, accidentally smearing some oil on her face. Her skin was glistening and her chest was partially exposed due to the low-cut ribbed pink tank she wore that read “BABE” across the front in large black letters. She grabbed a water bottle and took a generous drink from it, and while she was capping her drink, she noticed the prince. 

Vegeta quickly looked away, ashamed that he had even observed her for so long. She was clearly a stupid Earth woman, and he’d be damned if some Earth harpy was going to be any sort of distraction or hinderance on his job. His cheeks dared to turn pink as he felt her staring at him, and he stiffened his posture as he heard her start walking over to him. 

Bulma slapped him as hard as she could. “Don’t you ever put your barbarian hands on me again, GOT IT, pal?” She yelled. 

Vegeta stood in absolute disbelief that this woman had the audacity to lay a hand on him. The men who were now all out of the ship stared at Bulma. They shook their heads knowing Vegeta was about to destroy her. 

Bulma crossed her arms, and tapped her foot impatiently. “Well? I’m waiting for an answer, buddy.”

Vegeta finally locked eyes with her, and instead of incinerating her in a single blast of ki, he tilted his head and stared at her, deep in thought.   
Bulma became more and more impatient, and finally waved her hand in front of his face. “He-lloooooo?”

Vegeta snatched her wrist and held it still, firmly enough to stop her, but not with enough pressure to hurt her. “You slapped me, woman.”

“Yes I did, man.” She answered, mocking him. 

“Do you know who I am?” Vegeta asked her.

“Don’t know, don’t care. You just need to respect me. Without me, you won’t have any of those fancy scouters that you lot consistently find ways to break, or any of the weapons tech I’ve provided and you can kiss your fancy ships goodbye.” Bulma answered confidently. 

“Tch.” Vegeta threw her hand out of his face and walked past her without responding, and headed to his room. 

Tarble hurried over with the rest of Vegeta’s squad to Bulma.

“Miss Briefs! You must be respectful! You’re an awfully beautiful girl and I’d hate for Vegeta to destroy you because you angered him!” Nappa said. 

“Not to mention you’re super smart, and we really need you!” Tarble added.

“I’m just wondering why you’re still alive, in all honesty.” Raditz said, flippantly. 

“You’re lucky he didn’t rip that pretty little head off those shoulders.” Tama shrugged.

Bulma looked at all of them, rolled her eyes, flipped her hair, and smiled mischievously. “He was caught off guard that I stood up to him. Tough guys like him think they’re such bad men until a bad woman comes along and puts them in their place.” She winked. “Don’t you worry about me.” She extended a hand. Each of the men took turns shaking her hand, and Tarble offered a friendly smile. “Your Captain seems kind of boring.” 

The men snickered to themselves. “He’s a complete stick in the sand. The epitome of boring. Not once has he ever gone out with us, or taken a vacation. I’m convinced he’s a total masochist.” Raditz shook his head. 

“Is that so? Well, what do you boys say we have a little fun with him? It’ll be harmless and simple, but it’ll annoy the shit out of him.” Bulma raised an eyebrow as she smirked at them, her eyes twinkling in amusement. 

“Well, I’ll agree to it as long as you agree to take the heat once he gets totally pissed off and wants to kill someone.” Raditz said.

“Deal.” Bulma said, flipping her hair confidently. 

“So what exactly are we going to do?” Nappa asked, his interest officially captured. 

“Well, he seems fond of addressing me by ‘woman’ rather than my name.” Bulma drummed her delicate fingertips against her chin in thought. 

“That’s likely because he doesn’t know your name. He didn’t even know we had a new mechanic until he saw you today. He’s used to Gurrub.” Tarble answered. 

“Perfect. We’re not going to tell him my name, got it? Whenever you boys need something, address me by whatever appropriate nickname you’d like. But don’t use my name. I’d like to make him feel totally out of the loop for trying to make me feel insignificant! That jerk. It’ll drive him crazy. But when he tries to get my attention, I won’t pay him any. Leave the rest to me.” Bulma winked at them. 

The men chuckled. “It’s your funeral, Bulma, it really is.” Tama said, shaking his head.

“I’m here for a good time, not a long time, buddy.” Bulma giggled. “Alright, take care you guys. I’ll see you around.” 

“Alright, B, see ya later.”

Bulma waved at them as they all walked away except for Tarble who nervously shifted his weight between his feet. “Forgive my brother, Vegeta, he’s not very good with social skills, and he often forgets his identity doesn’t mean much to those who aren’t working directly under him or Freiza.” Tarble nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

Bulma laughed. “He doesn’t scare me a bit. Guys like him are a dime a dozen.” She went back to work, and Tarble kept himself from trying to argue the point with her. She’d have to figure it out the hard way, and he didn’t want to be facing the wrath of either of them. For an Earth woman, she was awfully scary. 

Vegeta brooded about the woman with blue hair that dared to lay a hand on him. He easily could’ve neutralized her, but if he was being honest with himself, something instinctual kept him from doing so. Something… primal. He didn’t know what it was, but his tail flipped around in irritation as he thought about her. He didn’t like this odd feeling flowing through his body, and he needed to identify it, address it, and put a stop to it. He was a warrior and had absolutely no time to be distracted by some harpy. Vegeta rubbed his temples as he tried to push the woman out of his head. He needed to get some sleep after the few days he’d been cooped up with the men in that tiny ass squad ship. It was impossible to have any alone time to just sit in silence without hearing them blabber about unimportant things that couldn’t be of less interest to Vegeta. He planned to avenge his bruised pride when he had gotten a sufficient amount of rest. There was no way this woman was going to get away with speaking him like that, especially in front of his men. He closed his eyes and thought about ways to get his revenge on that bitch.

The next morning, promptly at 5AM, Vegeta’s eyes snapped open and he hopped into the shower. He closed his eyes as the steaming water ran down his face and body, and he ran his hands down his arms, squeezing his biceps to release some of the tension in his muscles from the constant stress he was under. While he was more than capable of making it seem as though he didn’t care about anything, the truth was that Vegeta carried a lot of stress. He was nearly working right under Freiza, and that job came with a lot of stress, especially knowing how dangerous it was to disappoint Freiza. Vegeta finally finished his shower and stepped out, grabbing the fluffy white towel that hung next to the shower. He dried himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist as he stepped toward the mirror. He stared into the mirror, not scowling for once, his face a blank slate with no expression. One day he’d destroy Freiza and he’d assume the role of ruler of the galaxies. He was royalty, and dammit, he intended to live as such. He didn’t belong as a soldier working for an army where he was constantly insulted, berated, and treated like scum. The Saiyan prince took in a deep breath before finally going to get dressed.


	2. My name is Bulma!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey, what can I say? Chapter 2 just for you!

Vegeta stepped out of his room and walked silently down the corridor of the barracks. He didn’t care if he woke the other soldiers because he knew they’d never challenge him, but he knew how valuable sleep was, so he never went out of his way to disturb the slumber of his fellow soldiers, despite hating about 97% of them. His squad was the only group of soldiers he didn’t constantly want to murder, but there were times they had tested his patience to near death. He saw Tarble, his brother, step out of his own dorm. Tarble adjusted his gloves and his chest plate. He saw Vegeta out of the corner of his eye, and rather than waving and smiling cheerfully as he usually did, he simply nodded to Vegeta and walked away. It struck Vegeta as odd, but Vegeta wasn’t one to question it when someone finally decided not to annoy him. Vegeta cared for his brother, but he certainly didn’t mind his brother refraining from hugging him or waving like a little girl. Vegeta continued on his way to the mess hall. He hated the slop they had to eat, but he wasn’t one to complain. It was sufficient in protein and kept the soldiers strong and healthy. That was really all that mattered anyway. Vegeta walked into the mess hall and was hit with an incredible smell. He hadn’t smelled anything so delightful since his childhood days while living with his mother and father. He walked to the serving area and picked up a plate that had a fluffy yellow substance on it, white cubes that were slightly browned on the edges, crispy strips of… something that smelled fantastic, and a glass of some kind of orange liquid. Vegeta raised an eyebrow at it, and looked around to see the other men there chowing down hungrily. They weren’t suffering or in pain from the food, so Vegeta decided it would be safe to try it. He picked up a strip of the crispy thing and took a bite. His eyes widened, breaking his normally cool and collected expression. It was delicious. Salty, and savory, he jammed the rest of the strips into his mouth. He then started eating the white cubes with black specs and the yellow fluffy stuff, each having a unique but delightful flavor. Once he finished eating, he tossed the plate into the washing bin on his way out. He was suspicious. What if this was some sort of cruel joke by Freiza. His eyes widened in horror and realized that the food must’ve been poisoned. He hurried to the nearest bathroom and jammed his fingers down his throat and vomited everything back up. Once he finished vomiting, he rushed to the medical sector and grabbed a syringe filled with fluids meant for poisoned soldiers. He jammed it into his skin and let out a sigh of relief once he was sure he was okay. He waited for something terrible to happen to him, but it never did. He grunted and tossed the syringe into the waste basket. He heard a familiar female voice screeching from down the hall and his eyebrow twitched in irritation. He marched down the hallway until he found the woman. 

“What the hell are you on about, now, woman?” Vegeta snapped. 

Bulma was doubled over with her hands holding her head. When she looked up, there was blood streaming down her face. She gritted her teeth and said nothing to him, but walked over to her med cabinet and rummaged through its contents until she found what she had been apparently looking for. She pressed a button on a small object and threw it onto the floor. Out popped a small box that radiated cool air and she opened it and pulled out a small blue square that she wrapped in a paper towel and pressed it against her head. She sighed in relief, and put everything back, still ignoring Vegeta who watched her movements. 

“I see your stupidity got you injured.” Vegeta smirked. 

Bulma continued to ignore him, causing him to get angrier. Vegeta took a decisive step forward and swiftly grabbed her by the arm and made her face him. When she spun around, she dropped the ice pack and was face to face with Vegeta. She was inches away and her big blue eyes stared up into his dark onyx eyes. Vegeta hadn’t realized how pretty her eyes were before. His cheeks turned pink and they stared at each other. 

“Why are you ignoring me? You wouldn’t shut your yap yesterday, so what’s going on?” Vegeta asked softly, but still with an edge to his voice. 

“If you’re not going to bother learning my name, I have no interest in speaking to you.” Bulma said calmly. 

“I don’t need to know your stupid name. I don’t know half the names of the idiots who work with me, let alone a mechanic who works for me.” Vegeta said. 

“Then I think we’re done here.” Bulma ripped her arm out of his grip and picked up the ice pack and pressed it back to her head. 

Vegeta sighed loudly out of frustration, but had that warmth in his chest again that he had felt before. He walked toward her again and turned her around, this time standing so that she was trapped against her work bench, with his body blocking her from getting away from him.   
“What are you doing, you pervert!” Bulma squealed. 

“Shut up.” Vegeta commanded. He pulled the ice pack out of her hand. “Hold still.”

Bulma didn’t say anything more, but only out of curiosity. Vegeta pushed her hair back to see a large split in her skin from where she’d evidently been hit. “You can’t just leave this cut open, stupid woman.”

“I was going to tend to it once I finished what I was doing, for your information. I’m not an idiot.” Bulma snarled. 

“You could’ve fooled me.” Vegeta retorted. His tail whipped around as he reached into his chest plate and grabbed a vial of some kind of sticky pink substance. He grabbed a dab of it onto his finger and wiped it onto her skin, sealing and disinfecting the wound. He put the ice pack back against her head and grabbed her wrist to press her hand against it. “It will heal faster that way.”

Bulma just looked at Vegeta. 

“What?” Vegeta asked. 

“Well, I’ve heard you’re a total asshole and have no concern for others, so I’m curious as to why you just helped me.” Bulma said. 

Vegeta chuckled. “Oh, I am the Prodigal Asshole, woman. That much is true. However, you work for me. Why would I want someone who serves me to be in anything less than their best shape? You cannot do your best work if you’re in pain.” He explained. 

Bulma’s cheeks turned pink with her temper bubbling up. “I can take care of myself, you weirdo. You didn’t have to do all that crap just to try and insult me, which by the way, it didn’t work. You don’t scare me. You’re just a muscular guy who thinks he’s something special because he can bully others into submission. Well, I got news for you, pal, you can’t bully me. You might be the “prodigal asshole” but I’m the meanest, smartest, strongest willed bitch you’ll ever have the pleasure of crossing paths with. I’m from Earth, and I’ve dealt with your type on the daily.” 

Vegeta raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Is that so? Well then, earth bitch, welcome to the intergalactic hellzone.” He spun around on his heel and walked away. 

Bulma clenched her fists. “My name is Bulma you pig!” She grabbed a scouter and threw it in his direction, but it missed him and shattered against the wall. She gritted her teeth and growled as she went back to work. She grumbled to herself about Saiyan men and how intolerable they could be. 

The next couple of days, Bulma hadn’t run into Vegeta but had run into Tama, Nappa, Raditz, and Tarble during certain tasks or while running errands. Bulma had begun to wonder if Vegeta was ever seen by anyone on days he didn’t absolutely need something from them. Bulma had begun taking her breaks in garage like the men did. They had accepted her as a friend, and began teaching her card games they’d learned while traveling in space. 

Raditz leaned over as he dealt the cards. He looked up at Bulma with an expression of intense focus that Bulma used to confuse for anger, but now understood. 

“So this game is called Yardrat Hussle?” Bulma asked.

“Yes, the object of the game is to take everyone’s cards. It’s like, the opposite of Uno or Bullshit. You try to get all of the cards.” Raditz answered. 

“Oh, okay. Got it.” Bulma nodded. They started the game, and after a while, Bulma had gotten really into the game and was arguing with Raditz. Bulma yelled. “Raditz! I saw you cheat you bastard!”

“No you didn’t! You’re just mad that I’m better at this game than you are!” Raditz spat back. 

The yelling stopped and all heads turned when they heard Vegeta clear his throat as he leaned in the doorway of the garage. 

“Captain!” The men all stood up and saluted him in unison, the cards fluttering out of their hands and all over the floor. Bulma remained seated and rolled her eyes. She bent over and began picking up the cards while the men remained standing at attention, waiting for the command to be given that they could relax. Bulma heard Vegeta’s boots walking in her direction, and she ignored him while she continued picking up the cards. 

“Woman, I require your expertise.” Vegeta said. 

Bulma stood up and looked at him before smiling. “I’m afraid there isn’t anyone here named ‘woman’, Captain.”

“ You absolute b-” Vegeta stopped himself. “Bulma, I require your expertise.”

Bulma smiled. “What can I do for you, Captain?”

“Come with me.” Vegeta turned around and walked off, waving his hand dismissively at the men. Raditz watched the two walk away, and turned to Tama. “Hey, Tama, do you know what the Captain wants with Bulma? Do you think she’s in trouble?”

“You idiot, he told her he just needed her help. Why would that mean she’s in trouble?” Tama rolled his eyes. “Just ‘cause you have a crush on her doesn’t mean you have any sort of ownership of her.” Tama started laughing as Raditz delivered annoyed swats at him. 

“I don’t have a crush on her! And you know I have a girlfriend!” Raditz hissed. 

“Listen, man, just because she makes out with you and stuff doesn’t mean you’re dating.” Nappa said, shaking his head. 

Tarble stayed out of it and gathered the rest of the cards so he could deal them for a new game. He did wonder what it was that Vegeta needed Bulma’s help with, but he hoped whatever it was, Vegeta wouldn’t lose his temper with the blue haired company owner. 

Vegeta directed Bulma to his office, where Bulma stood in front of his desk, and Vegeta closed the door and took his seat. “Alright, woman, I need some advice.” Vegeta said, putting his feet up on his desk. 

“What can I help you with, Captain?” Bulma asked.

“Well, a woman has shown interest in me. A colleague. How do I reject her without getting punched in the face?” Vegeta asked seriously. 

Bulma had to use all of her willpower to keep from laughing. “W-well, that depends. Are you rejecting her because you’re too busy for romance or because you aren’t interested?”

“Both.” Vegeta answered gruffly. “I don’t take interest in women.”

Bulma raised her eyebrows. “Oh! You like men?”

Vegeta’s eyes widened. “What!? NO. I meant that I don’t have any interest in forming anything amorous with a woman because I have far more important things to do.” Vegeta grumbled. 

Bulma laughed. “Well, in that case, I’d just be honest with her. Not brutally honest, but just tell her you’re a busy man and you aren’t looking to get into a relationship.” 

Vegeta nodded. “Excellent. You’re dismissed.”

Bulma lingered. 

“What is it, woman?” Vegeta sighed as he sorted through files on his desk. 

“Well I… was wondering how I should reject a colleague as well, without getting blown to bits. It’s a saiyan man and I don’t want him to murder me because I tell him no.” Bulma fidgeted.   
“So, Raditz really has been that obvious, huh? Just tell him what you told me. Unlike human men, Saiyan men get over things relatively quickly and are trained to take rejection. Look who we work for. Telling us no is nothing we can’t handle.” Vegeta answered without looking up from his paperwork as he sat down at his desk. He ran his fingers through his flame shaped mane atop his head and picked up a pen. 

Bulma nodded. “Thank you, Captain. How’d you know it was Raditz?”

Vegeta let out a loud laugh. “If it has breasts and female genitals, Raditz will try. Raditz loves the ladies. And around beautiful women, he can’t help himself, so this isn’t really a surprise.”

Bulma raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying I’m a beautiful woman?”

Vegeta realized what he’d said and fought the blush that was threatening to come to the surface of his cheeks. “What? Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous. Dismissed!”

Bulma giggled as she walked out of his office.


	3. Whipping Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta opens up about something horrible to Bulma, and in doing so, they form some sort of friendship.

Vegeta ground his teeth as his scouter beeped and Frieza’s face was displayed on the screen.

“Vegeta, I require your presence in the control room immediately. I’d also like it if you’d bring along your dear little brother and the new mechanic.” Freiza spoke in a chilling tone of voice.

“Yes, Lord Frieza. Is there anything else?” Vegeta answered.

“That’ll be all. Be here in no less than 20 minutes.” Frieza’s face disappeared leaving only the red lense of the scouter in front of Vegeta’s left eye. The prince grit his teeth in frustration. It was usually nothing good when Frieza requested an audience with anyone, especially not when it was multiple people. Vegeta mentally prepared himself for a mental and, most likely, physical beating. He only hoped Frieza didn’t kill anyone today. He adjusted his gloves and took a deep breath. “Time to suffer.” He said, walking swiftly out of his office and down the command hallway.

When Vegeta reached the control room and sighed a breath of relief when he found that Tarble and Bulma had followed his instructions and met there before he got there. _At least we won’t be late. _He thought to himself. “Alright, in we go.” Vegeta said, gesturing to the ramp leading to the control room. The sound of Frieza’s laughter faintly flowed from behind the control room door causing Vegeta and Tarble to cringe in discomfort while Bulma only looked at them both with confused expressions. The door opened, and the trio walked in, Bulma in the middle with Tarble on her left and Vegeta on her right. Bulma had never actually seen her “business partner” as Frieza had put it over the phone while he negotiated with her on terms which she would work for him. All Bulma knew was that he was a space tyrant feared by many. Despite being incredibly intelligent, Bulma was sorely naive when it came to Frieza’s treatment of the people who worked for him. .  
“Ah, look at that, you’re all on time.” Came a deceivingly pleasant tone of voice from behind a floating chair in the middle of the room.

Vegeta balled up both fists before letting out an inaudible breath to calm himself. Tarble did the same.

“Yes sir, what is it you nee-” Bulma’s voice was cut off by Tarble and Vegeta’s hands covering her mouth.

“Forgive her, Lord Frieza, she has not been educated on the proper way in which she is to address you, nor has she learned to only speak when directly addressed.” Vegeta said. “I’ll teach her myself.”

Frieza’s chair turned around revealing the most frightening creature Bulma had ever seen. It wasn’t that Vegeta was particularly ugly, Bulma couldn’t really make that call being that he was the only one of his kind that she’d ever seen. The blue eyed woman was chilled to her core by the look on his face. Two piercing eyes that seemed like they could see things she could not. They were eyes of a creature obviously very intelligent, as they seemed to analyze the woman before them. Frieza smiled his sickening smile and his tail wagged back and forth. “My, my, my. When I agreed to go into business with Miss Briefs I had no idea she was such a pretty little thing. Who knew one could be as beautiful as they are smart?” Frieza chuckled. “Alright monkeys, take your hands away from her face now. I do believe she’s gotten the message. Now then, dear, I called you in because I was informed of a change made to the kitchen area without my knowledge or permission. I also smelled the delightful sent permeating the air through the vents. What did you do?”

Bulma looked to her right to see Vegeta nod his head. She began to speak. “Forgive me, Lord Frieza” she began, copying what she’d heard Vegeta say. “I noticed that the food being served, while nutritional, had been causing a number of soldiers stomach pain and after doing some tests on both the food and a select number of soldiers, I found that the food being served had too much iron in it and Saiyans’ bodies aren’t able to handle so much iron like other species. So I thought it to be helpful to both them and to you, Lord Frieza, if the soldiers were served food that kept them energized, strong, and healthy. I gave them the best food for such purposes as I could. Though on my planet, bacon is considered unhealthy, it appears that Saiyans are able to use it the same way my species would use grilled chicken. I installed cooking bots programmed to cook large amounts of food so that you could also have a full army working for you rather than having some stuck on kitchen duty.”

Frieza listened to her without a peep until she seemed to be finished. “That’s quite thoughtful of you, Miss Briefs. But tell me, where do you expect this food to continue coming from? I certainly hope you don’t expect me to pay for such a luxury for these men.”

Bulma shook her head. “Of course not, I cover the cost myself. I am perfectly financially able to pay for the food, regardless of what large quantities we may need here.”

Frieza seemed impressed and nodded in approval. Watching him interact with Bulma was as fascinating for Tarble and Vegeta as it was terrifying. Neither of them had ever seen him interact with anyone so calmly, but Bulma’s intelligence had certainly paid off. Bulma really had no idea how lucky she was, but the saiyan princes both made mental notes to teach Bulma how to behave when summoned by Frieza.

“Well, dear, that’s just fine. You’re dismissed. I still need to speak with these two so if you’ll leave us, I’d like to get on with it.” Frieza waved her off.

“Yes, Lord Frieza.” Bulma answered and quickly turned around to leave.

Once the door shut behind her, Frieza began to chuckle. “Alright, you two. I have a special little task for you and your squad. Being that you’re the two in charge of your squad, and you’re all quite chummy with Miss Briefs as I’m told, you should have no difficulties in investigating her. I want you to be able to tell me with absolute certainty that she will not betray me, and I expect you to give me leverage to use on her should she ever try. Understood?”

Vegeta didn’t particularly care about what was being asked of him after he learned that Bulma had “gone into business” with the man who kept him as a slave. It wasn’t like Vegeta was really concerned for her in the first place, but he had at least some respect for her until now. Tarble, on the other hand, was absolutely mortified. He cared a great deal about Bulma, especially after she’d altered his scouter so that he could communicate with his girlfriend, Gure, without Frieza knowing. He missed Gure so much, but Frieza only allowed Tarble to see her once or twice every six months. Bulma had done him a huge favor in allowing him to communicate with her whenever he wanted to. Whether they wanted to or not, though, both men lowered their heads and nodded as they confirmed the understanding in unison. “Yes, Lord Frieza.” They both answered.

“Wonderful. Now get out of my sight. Your filthy monkey stench is ruining the atmosphere of the control room.” Frieza smirked as he insulted them.

Vegeta and Tarble both turned on their heels and walked off.

Vegeta was the first to catch up with Bulma. She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by him. “You’re even worse than I ever could’ve imagined.” Vegeta said, disgusted.

Bulma’s face went from friendly to confused. “I’m.. sorry what?”

Vegeta looked at her menacingly. “You’re a business partner with the man responsible for enslaving my entire race, and you have the audacity to act like you’re a friend to any of us? Traitor.” He whispered angrily.

Bulma’s eyes widened in disbelief for a moment before her eyebrows pressed down in a furious frown. “Come here.” Bulma whispered sharply before grabbing Vegeta’s arm and yanking him into her office. “Alright, we can speak freely in here because my office is a deadzone for anything electronically transmitting, and it’s soundproof. Now. Let me make something perfectly clear to you. I didn’t go into business with him because I wanted to. I did it to keep my planet safe from being cleared out and sold to the highest bidder. I made a sacrifice for my planet.” She spoke angrily at him. She had every right to be angry. How could this man in front of her honestly believe that she had malicious intentions when she had done so much to be of help to his squad? She’d even gone so far as to improve the food for the entire army, not even just his men. Why would she have done that had she been anything like Frieza? “How dare you accuse me of being a traitor when you don’t know all the facts. How dare you.”

Vegeta closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “I’m sorry, woman. I’m understandably paranoid when it comes to people who have any sort of connection or favoritism with Frieza. He hates my race and most especially me.”

Bulma’s expression softened, though still angry. “What do you mean?”

“To put it simply, Frieza murdered my father when I was a young boy because he refused to give up my home planet to Frieza. Then he gathered up the best warriors for slavery work for him, and slaughtered the rest.”

“Where do you fit into this story?” Bulma asked, interest captured.

“He used me as a whipping boy until I was old enough to fight, and once he realized I was also an elite, he put me in charge of the elite force.” Vegeta answered matter-of-factly.

Bulma’s eyes teared up as she stood speechless before Vegeta. He saw her eyes and realized that she was nothing like Frieza and he felt surprisingly guilty for suspecting that she was. He felt awkward and didn’t know what to do so he tried comforting her verbally.

“There’s no reason to cry, woman, what’s happened has happened.” He said.

Bulma began sobbing and threw her arms around him, which caused the Prince to tense up. He awkwardly patted her back which earned him a tighter grip from Bulma. She sobbed something into his shoulder that he couldn’t understand. “What did you say?”

“I said that I” _sniff_ “can’t believe you have had to go through” _sniff sniff_ “something” _sniff_ “so terrible!” _sniff_. Bulma began sobbing again, her big blue eyes sparkled with tears as she looked up at him from their embrace. “And you’ve compartmentalized it so much that you don’t even have an emotional reaction to it!” Bulma cried into his shoulder.

Vegeta sighed. He wrapped his arms around her and continued patting her back. “Woman, it happened a long time ago and I’ve somewhat made my peace with it. I’m more angry now than sad. Yes, I miss my father and my home planet. I can’t walk around being sad about it forever. I carry anger that fuels me to keep going everyday. I don’t have time to be heartbroken for my people. I have to get us out of here. Somehow.”

Bulma’s sobs suddenly stopped and she looked up at him again in surprise. “You’re going to escape?”

Vegeta stared at the wall in front of him. “No.”

Bumla stayed quiet.

“I’m going to murder that son of a bitch with my own two hands.” Vegeta’s face washed over with an evil expression and a sinister smile.

“Is that why you always train so hard?” Bulma asked.

“Part of it. The other reason is because I’m just a perfect specimen of Saiyan genes and I want to stay in my best condition. I’m an elite. I can’t fall to the strength of some low level warrior.” Vegeta scoffed.

Bulma gave him one last squeeze before letting go of him, but noticed he didn’t let go. “Vegeta?”

Vegeta suddenly snapped out of it and looked down, realizing Bulma had stopped sobbing and had let go of him. He let go abruptly and stepped back from her. “Anyway, like I said. There’s no need for tears. I will kill Frieza and I will free us all.” He spoke with fire in his eyes. It was the first time Bulma had genuinely seen any sort of real emotion in his eyes.

She smiled at him. “I know you can do it, but don’t try to do it by yourself. I’m not saying you can’t do it, I’m saying enlist the help of those who love and respect you.”

Vegeta thought about her words. “I have to get back to work.”

“So do I. See ya later, Vegeta.”

“Affirmative.” He walked out of her office.

Bulma got back to work without thinking anything more of the embrace they had shared, but thought a whole lot about how he’d shared something so personal with her. Perhaps he was finally coming around to being her friend after all.

Tarble knocked frantically on her door, covered in sweat and looking pale. “Bulma! Frieza said he wants me and Vegeta to spy on you and tell him your weaknesses so he can use them against you should you ever try to stand up to him!” He was speed talking and took in a big breath.

“Oh boy, calm down Tarble. It’s going to be fine. I’m prepared for that, and I figured at one point he might try to test my loyalty. Just tell him I have a trick knee and I have a weak heart.”

“Bulma no! He’ll use it against you!”

“It’s fine, Tarble. I don’t actually have those issues.” She winked.

“That’s even worse, Bulma. If he finds out you’re lying or that me or Vegeta lied, he’ll likely kill one or all of us.” Tarble wrung his hands with anxiety.

“No, listen. I have a device connected to my brain that I can control. So should I be called to have an audience with Frieza, and he tests it out, I can make sure it’s turned on so I can have the proper responses. I’ll sweat and everything like I’m in pain, and my body will cringe, but I won’t actually be in any pain. And any other time, it’s turned off. Here. Knock this against my knee.” She handed Tarble a textbook. “It’s okay, just do it.”

Tarble hesitantly took the textbook and then knocked it against her knee. Nothing happened.

Bulma pressed on of her earrings. “Okay. Again.”

Tarble complied and watched in horror as Bulma dropped to the floor and held her knee and let out a scream. Tarble dropped to his knees and frantically grabbed at his hair until Bulma reached up and pressed her earring again.

“Bulma I really don’t like that device.” Tarble said, frowning.

“Well what suggestions do you have?” Bulma got up and put her hands on her hips.

Tarble drummed his index finger on his chin until his face lit up. “I have a better idea but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

Bulma gulped.


	4. Lip Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HOLY moly I'm so sorry for taking SOOOOO long. I'm currently having to cover both of my coworkers at my job! They're both very sick so PLEASE keep them in your prayers, as well as me because I'm literally drowning in their jobs!! Lol. Anyway, without further ado, here's chapter 4! I hope you like it. I threw in a little mushy stuff for ya since you've had to wait so long ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

“We can tell Frieza that you have feelings for someone or are with someone" Tarble said. 

“I thought it was going to be something so much worse like, photos of me naked or something.” Bulma laughed nervously. 

Tarble’s entire face turned red. “Bulma I literally would never think about something like that.”

Bulma laughed even louder and more nervously. ‘ALRIGHT GOOD TALK HAHAHA.” She spoke too loudly and felt totally embarrassed. 

“Who has pictures of you naked?” Raditz opened the door and walked in, chuckling and trying to hide his extreme interest. 

“You pig! Shut up. And how the hell did you hear us?” Bulma sputtered. 

“Oh, I didn’t. Tarble projects to nearby audiences when he’s stressed, haha. I happened to be close enough to catch it before anyone else did.” Raditz laughed again. “Anywho, did you get in trouble?”

“No, Frieza just wanted to know what I did with the food.” Bulma flipped her hair. 

“Oh! Right! I forgot to tell you that whatever you had us eating was delicious.” Raditz smiled. 

“I’m glad you liked it. Anyway, Tarble, I actually don’t mind that idea, but who would we say?” Bulma asked. 

Tarble fidgeted. “R-Raditz.”

Bulma’s eyes widened. “Absolutely not!”

Raditz looked at both of them, confusion written all over his face. 

Tarble ran his gloved fingers through his hair. “Well do you have any b-” His voice cut off as a smile slowly spread across his face. “I know the perfect person.”

“Who?” Bulma raised an eyebrow.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vegeta was lying on his bed with his arm draped over his eyes. He sighed deeply as he thought about what Bulma had said to him about not taking on the task of destroying Frieza by himself. It was refreshing to hear from someone who didn’t know him very well still have such faith in his abilities. It was foreign to him for anyone to show concern for him or even shed tears for him, but she had. He would never admit it to her or anyone else, but he’d appreciated her words and had needed to hear them. The Earth woman was strange, and showed compassion for these men she hardly knew, but had done so without the slightest bit of hesitation. She was unlike anyone the Prince had ever known, but he didn’t think he minded it. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep as he pondered the strangely kind earthling. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Okay, Bulma, are you sure this is going to work?” Tarble asked worriedly wringing his hands. 

“I’m sure. It’ll be easy, I have a believable story that’ll give me a reason to go in there, and he won’t suspect a thing. I sweet talk him, you take a few photos, and I’m outta there. You have ‘proof’ that I have feelings for him, and Frieza thinks he has leverage. Easy peasy.” Bulma said confidently. “Alright, if you’ve got the camera, let’s do this.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vegeta’s eyes snapped and he snatched the wrist of the person standing over him. 

“Ow!” Bulma shrieked. 

“Woman? What the hell are you doing in my room?” The red that spread across Vegeta’s cheeks was hidden by the darkness of the room.

“I knocked several times but you didn’t answer so I came in to make sure you were okay. A few of the men in the low class sector are sick and I’ve been going around checking the elites to make sure they haven’t caught whatever it is the others have. It seems to be viral.” Bulma answered, still squirming to get her wrist out of his grip.

Vegeta released her wrist and rubbed his temples. “Next time, page me. I could’ve killed you had I not sensed the low power level.”

Bulma rubbed her wrist and nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb or startle you.”

“You did nothing of the sort. I don’t get startled.” Vegeta scoffed.

“Alright well I’m already here, so I might as well check your vitals.” Bulma turned the lamp on that was next to his bed. “Okay, first I need to check your temperature.”

Vegeta rolled his eyes and opened his mouth as Bulma brought the thermometer up to his lips. She gently pulled his lower eyelids down with her thumbs to make sure there was no discoloration or abnormal dilation of the pupils, and when she was satisfied, she smiled and took the thermometer out of his mouth and gasped. “102!?” She shrieked. 

“Yes, that is the average body temp for my race.” Vegeta nodded. 

“Wow. That must be why you’re so hot all the time!” Bulma slapped a hand over her mouth once she realized how that sounded and started frowning when she saw Vegeta smirking at her.

“You wouldn’t be the first woman to tell me I’m hot all the time. No need to feel embarrassed.” Vegeta said smugly. 

Bulma’s face suddenly lost its annoyed expression and she leaned to him, her eyes sparkling and curiously searching his. I just have to get close enough so that Tarble can take photos that look like there’s something between us.

“W-What are you…?” Vegeta’s voice trailed off as she leaned closer. 

Bulma was just inches away from his face and he could smell the strawberry shampoo she’d used. Vegeta had no idea how to respond to what was happening until he realized she must want a hug or something, so he reached out and wrapped his arms around her, causing her face to lay on his shoulder. She gasped in surprise, but returned the hug, confused as she may be. She felt herself tense as she heard the click of photos being taken, and Vegeta heard them too. She was sure of it.

“Why is my brother taking photos of us?” Vegeta growled into her ear, unknowingly causing shivers to shoot up her spine. 

“Uhhhhhhhh, so that Frieza thinks you and I have a thing so he won’t go further to find real leverage on us.” Bulma smiled sheepishly.

Vegeta shoved her away roughly and rolled his eyes. “You could’ve just said something. I could’ve helped you come up with something better.”

“Brother, this would be the best course of action. Isn’t Frieza always using your time off as leverage against you? This way he couldn’t take away anything you genuinely need, and since Bulma isn’t a spy or anything of that nature, then we know we won’t run into any problems.” Tarble chirped as he ran in.

The older prince sighed deeply. “Fine, whatever. Are you two at least finished with your stupid little plan? I’m exhausted.”

Bulma smiled “Yeah we’re d-”

“Not quite, Bulma. I’ll need one last photo.” Tarble said, his face turning pink.

“And what might that be, Tarble?” Vegeta asked, his voice dangerously low. 

Tarble must have told his brother telepathically because Bulma only saw them looking at each other for a moment before Vegeta’s face turned crimson and he started yelling. 

“I am not doing that!” Vegeta roared. 

“What?? What’s going on?” Bulma asked.

“This fool wants a photos of us kissing.” Vegeta spat with disgust. 

“Ugh, those kinds of photos are so easy to fake. Just come here. I won’t actually kiss you, it’ll just look like I kissed you.” Bulma said, rolling her eyes. 

“Absolutely not, you’re not going to fool me, woman.” Vegeta hissed. 

Bulma threw her hands up in frustration and grabbed Tarble and pulled his face to hers. Vegeta’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he watched the earth woman press her mouth his brother’s. 

Bulma finally pulled away from Tarble and turned his face so that Vegeta could see her thumbs over his lips. “I kissed my thumbs, not Tarble. There was no lip contact.”

Tarble nodded, impressed. “It’s true, I just felt her thumbs.”

Vegeta shook his head defeatedly. “Well, what’s in it for me?”

Bulma looked at him and drummed her delicate finger tips against her chin in thought as she always did. “How about I upgrade your armor?” 

“Hn. What else?”

“I could promise not to annoy you for an entire week.”

Vegeta’s eyebrow raised in interest. “Define ‘annoy’.”

“I won’t talk to you for a week, you won’t have to see or hear me, and I’ll make sure your squad doesn’t bother you either. You can just do whatever it is you need to do.” Bulma crossed her arms over her chest in confidence.

“I could use that time to sleep since no one will be allowed to bother me…” Vegeta thought it over. “Alright, fine, I suppose that will work.”

Bulma smiled. “Alright, cool. Come here, tough guy.” Bulma gestured for him to come closer with her index finger while her other hand was planted sassily on her hip. 

Tarble walked out of the room and closed the door just enough so that the photos would seem as though they were taken in secret from the angle. He began snapping photos as Bulma would direct him to. 

“Alright, put your hands on my hips.” Bulma said to Vegeta.

Vegeta placed his hands on her waist, instead. 

“I said my hips.”

“Well I don’t know you that way, woman.”

“You do in these photos, pal. Now do it. Or I’ll annoy the absolute shit out of you.”

Vegeta growled and slid his hands down either side of her until his hands found a resting place on her curvy hips. They felt soft and round under his palms. He grunted when Bulma stepped closer as she called for Tarble to start taking photos. Bulma wrapped her arms around Vegeta’s neck and stared dreamily at him until she slid her hands down the side of his face and pressed her thumbs to his lips and leaned in. Vegeta did his damndest to play along, though the longer Bulma was this close to him, the more he felt that warmth in his chest. Bulma’s cheeks were radiating warmth and her body temperature had elevated making it even easier for him to smell the strawberry shampoo and light perfume she wore. Her eyelashes were long and luscious and brushed against his cheek as she tilted her face to make the kiss look more convincing. He took a deep breath and held back a growl of disappointment as Bulma stepped away. “Okay, that should be enough photos.”

Tarble gave them a thumbs up before walking away, and Vegeta watched Bulma as she grabbed her medical bag that she’d brought into his room. She seemed to notice he was watching, because she turned to look at him. “You okay?”

Vegeta cleared his throat. “Yes, just tired. Get out.”

Bulma scowled. “Okay, geez.”

“And thank you for helping my brother and I.” Vegeta mumbled. 

She turned around and looked at him. “You’re welcome, Prince Vegeta.” She smiled warmly and stepped out of his room.

Vegeta all but screamed at hearing the woman call him “Prince Vegeta”. For whatever reason, it made his heart swell with pride when he heard her say it. 

It had been a month since the last time anyone had been called to speak with Frieza, and Tarble sheepishly approached the doorway of Frieza’s control room. It wasn’t often he ever had to have an audience with the galactic terrorist, but he’d overcome this fear of his if it was for the sake of protecting his beloved brother, and his new friend, Bulma. 

“What is it, monkey?” Frieza’s effeminate voice echoed throughout the room. 

“I have blackmail that you’ve requested, Lord Frieza.” Tarble said, his head bowed reverently.

“Ah! Yes, bring it here then.” Frieza chirped delightedly. He took the camera from Tarble’s hand, and clicked through the photos and a smile plastered itself across his face and he chuckled. 

Tarble forced his body not to seat in fear that Frieza had already figured out they were all staged. 

“What excellent work you’ve done, Tarble. Excellent work indeed. I do believe you’re eligible for a promotion, wouldn’t you agree, Zarbon?” He glanced over in the general direction of the tall green haired bipedal.

“Yes Lord Frieza.” Zarbon replied with disinterest heavily layering his tone.

Frieza seemed to ignore his attitude and waved his hand for Zarbon to approach Tarble with the breastplate stamp that was used to indicate a warrior’s rank. The Captain stamp was slammed into his breastplate, causing Tarble to grunt, and Zarbon walked back to where he’d previously been standing. 

“L-Lord Frieza, I have the same rank as my brother? Won’t he find this suspicious?” Tarble fidgeted uncomfortably.

Frieza stroked his chin. “That’s quite a good observation. I suppose we’ll need to promote him as well. I’ll promote him to Major as a reward for disposing of that moron, Dodoria. It was a nice little mission that he completed in a very timely manner, as he always does. Send him in later.”

“Yes Lord Frieza.” Tarble nodded respectfully and spun around, walking as quickly as his legs could carry him to the garage where his squad frequented.

“Brother, I-” Tarble stopped short when he saw Bulma and Vegeta sitting next to each other talking calmly. 

“Okay so this piece is what powers the entire unit. See how there’s a green wire the branches off into this yellow socket in here?” She pointed with her delicate pinky finger inside the open scouter earpiece. 

Vegeta leaned closer to see where she was pointing and nodded. “So this is how the thing is able to remain powered without having to recharge?”

Bulma nodded. “I modified them so that they essentially power themselves by creating a harmless fume inside the device which the main circuitry then sucks in and uses as a type of fuel.”

Vegeta nodded again. “That’s quite a design. I’m sure Frieza will be pleased with your handywork.” He said. 

Bulma beamed at him. “Thanks.” 

“Ahem.” Tarble cleared his throat. 

They both turned to look at him. “Hi Tarbes!” Bulma greeted cheerfully. 

“Hello, am I interrupting? I just wanted to tell you guys that I submitted the photos to Frieza and that h-”

“He promoted you as a reward and is now giving me a promotion for some job I did so as not to cause suspicion?” Vegeta finished Tarble’s sentence. 

“Yeah, haha.”

“How could you have known that? Or did Tarble project again?” Bulma asked.

“I know that lizard freak better than anyone else could. I know how he works, and I know how that bastard runs his ship. There’s no way he’d willingly give me any sort of praise unless it somehow benefited him.” Vegeta growled and his tail unwrapped from his waist and began whipping around in agitation. 

Tarble’s tail remained wrapped around his waist, but Bulma saw the fur on his tail bristle in discomfort. “Brother, just remember we are Saiyans no matter what! Frieza can never take that from us.”

“Yeah, Captain, no one can take it away.” Raditz joined the conversation as well as Nappa and Toma. 

“Ugh, it’s crowded in here and I have to leave, or your collective stupidity save for the woman is going to rub off onto me.” Vegeta rolled his eyes as he stood abruptly and walked off before anyone could protest. 

“Did anyone else notice he excluded Bulma from being called stupid, or was it just me?” Toma asked. 

Raditz snickered. “It would seem someone has noticed Bulma in a more than friendly light.” He nudged the blue haired beauty. “Eh Bulma, what do you think?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

Bulma smirked. “I think he can only wish he had a shot with a beautiful genius like me.” She winked and the men all began laughing. 

“Excuse me, where can I find the weapons tech director?” A voice came from behind the men. They turned to see a young Saiyan man even smaller in stature than Vegeta or Tarble, and looked surprisingly similar to Tarble. He seemed to have the same youthful face, but had very thin eyebrows and smaller, sharper eyes, and stood on skinny legs with skinny arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t wear the usual scowling expression that most saiyans wore.

“That would be me, what can I help with?” Bulma asked him, waving as a gesture of friendliness. 

The young man’s face turned a deep red when he saw her and he quickly looked away. “M-My name is Cabba and I’m having some trouble with my boots. They’re supposed to help me deflect space rocks and such when I kick them out of the way. I do exploration work for the search team when we scout new planets. During my travels, I typically have to kick rocks out of the way if they’re large ones, but my duty boots are malfunctioning and I injured my ankle because of it.” The man explained. 

“Oh! Well, first of all, you have the safety feature turned off, but it looks like that happened due to some damage from kicking space rocks.” Bulma chuckled. “If you’ll take them off I can definitely take a look at them for you and fix them up or make you a new pair.”

The young man smiled. “Thank you Miss…?”

“Bulma.” She said, stretching out a hand. 

He took her hand and shook it while smiling kindly. “Thank you. It’s wonderful to meet you.” He thanked Bulma and began taking his boots off so she could work on them, and gratefully accepted the standard work boots that came with the standard issue Frieza Force uniforms. Bulma asked his shoe size and he responded proudly while the men around him tried to stifle their chuckles.  
“The tiniest Saiyan I have ever seen!” Raditz said after Cabba had left the area.

“Well at least he has actual people skills, most of you guys are just always trying to find a reason to fight are screech like toddlers having sugar rushes.” Bulma said.

Raditz and the rest of the men shook their heads collectively. “Oh, Bulma, when will you realize that Saiyan men are all the same? Except Vegeta, he’s like, defective or something.” 

Nappa laughed. “Cabba was taken aback by your looks and felt the need to be polite because you’re a lady.”

Bulma crossed her arms. “That’s bullshit! You guys did no such thing!”

Toma shook his head. “That’s because before any of us could say anything you were running out of your office and screaming at us like a Saiyan woman in labor! How could we focus on treating you like a lady when you’re busy screeching at us?”

The rest of the men snickered quietly as the blue headed genius’ face turned pink with annoyance. “You’re all pigs!” She stamped her foot in rage. “And for the record, there’s nothing wrong with Vegeta! He’s just socially awkward!” 

Raditz suddenly had a big goofy smile plastered across his face. “Uh oh.”

Bulma’s eyes went wide. “What?”

Raditz looked to Nappa. 

“You know what that means, guys.”

“What!?” Bulma shrieked. 

“You fancy Vegeta.” Tarble mumbled. 

Bulma saw red.


	5. Cold Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That feeling when you deny you're totes in love with Vegeta
> 
> Me too, Bulma, me too.

Her eyes widened in frustration and embarrassment. “I do not!” Bulma yelled too loudly. 

“Damn, Bulma! You really _ do _ have a little crush on the captain!” Raditz held his sides as he laughed. “Who’d have thought this day would ever come for the guy?” The men all laughed. Even the typically serious Tarble had trouble concealing his amusement. 

The blue haired woman rolled her eyes. “You guys are unbelievably immature! Just because I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Vegeta doesn’t mean _ anything _.” Bulma hissed. 

“Oh come on, Bulma, you and I _ both _ know you _ totally _ wanna rock his world.” Raditz laughed. 

“Excuse me, worthless monkey scum, but Frieza has sent me to let you morons know you’re to suit up immediately. You’re going to 481 in the next hour. Tell your ape captain he’s to report to Frieza prior to departure.”

“What? What’s 481?” Bulma asked.

“Quiet, mechanic, just worry about your job.” Zarbon glared at her. 

“Hey, Jackass, don’t talk to Bulma that way!” Raditz growled, the other Saiyan men baring their teeth behind him in response to Zarbon’s cold remark. 

“Aw, look at that. The little monkeys made a little friend. I suppose someone has to like you worthless wastes of space.” 

They all heard it before their eyes and brains registered what had happened. The sound reverberated throughout the room, ringing in the ears of Zarbon and the Saiyan men. It was a sound so sharp that even Vegeta, who had been lying down with his eyes closed, had heard it and sensed it. The men stared at Bulma, whose hand was swinging back toward her after connecting with Zarbon’s cheek, while her other hand was still gripping his chest plate that shed grabbed to bring his face to her level. She’d slapped him with all her might, eyes filled with fire, body quivering with rage. 

“How dare you.” She whispered with rage. 

Zarbon’s eyes were wide with disbelief. 

“How dare you speak about them this way? They have more value than someone like you could ever have. You’re jealous of their strength, their culture, their determination… You could never come close to them. Ever.” She growled through clenched teeth and furrowed eyebrows. 

“You stupid _ wench _ . You’ll pay for this. Frieza will give you lashes until you’re _ dead _.” Zarbon shoved her to the ground. 

Bulma’s temper exploded, and she kicked him in the jaw as she fell back. “_ Bite me. _ ” Her defiance radiated off of her body, and Raditz and Tarble ran over to her to help her up and hold her back from getting into any more trouble. Tarble slapped his hand over her mouth to keep her from speaking to Zarbon any further.   
  
“We’ll take care of this, sir. Please don’t invoke Frieza’s brand of punishment on her. She’s a human and she’s ignorant to how things work around here.” Tarble spoke to Zarbon. 

“Either I punish her now, or Frieza does. Pick one.” Zarbon hissed. 

The men all snapped to attention when they finally noticed a familiar ki signature raise behind them. “Get off your high horse, Zarbon. We all know you’re only acting this way because Daddy Frieza has made it clear to you that you’re worthless to him.” Vegeta said with cold indifference. 

Zarbon took a swing at Vegeta, but Vegeta caught his fist and chuckled. “Just because you’re his favorite pet doesn’t mean you’re in the same league of strength, let alone a league above me, Zarbon. Fuck off.” Vegeta shoved Zarbon away, sending him flat on his ass. 

“I will be reporting to Frieza, Vegeta, and you will get the beating of your life!” Zabron screamed. 

“Go tell someone who cares.” Vegeta gathered his squad and dragged Bulma away by her wrist. 

“Why did you do that? Now we’re both going to be in trouble!” Bulma yelled.

“Quiet. We’re going to be fine. Frieza will find it absolutely amusing to know you slapped the shit out of Zarbon.” Vegeta said without concern. 

“A-Are you sure? Isn’t that his right-hand man?” Bulma asked. 

“You ask too many fucking questions sometimes, woman.” Vegeta rolled his eyes as they walked. Bulma noticed they were all headed for Frieza’s control room. The Prince was still trying to fight the warm feeling in his chest from witnessing the woman slap and kick Zarbon fearlessly. Not only had she spoken her mind to him, but she’d defended herself and Vegeta’s men without hesitation. _ Dear Kami, what have I gotten myself into? _ Vegeta asked himself.

“Where are we going, Captain?” Nappa asked as the squad followed Vegeta.

They were answered with silence.

“Where are w-”

“I said be _ quiet _. Shut up, and just go with it.” He snarled. 

Bulma Briefs obeyed a command for the first time in her life. 

They walked into the control room after being cleared. Vegeta let go of Bulma and walked ahead of the squad. They all knelt down and Raditz grabbed Bulma’s arm, pulling her down on one knee like the rest of them. Vegeta knelt at the head of the group in front of Freiza. 

“What is it, filthy monkeys?” Frieza asked. 

“Lord Frieza, we are about to leave for 481 as commanded, but we wanted to make a direct request.” Vegeta said. 

“Out with it then. I swear, you lot can’t just _ go do things _. You always need something extra. You’re like children, really.” Frieza answered, mildly annoyed. 

“We request Mechanic 3140-B’s presence during the mission. 481 is currently a high risk zone for ship damage, and to have Mechanic 3140- B’s presence would be beneficial in keeping our mission time to a minimum.” Vegeta answered, getting right to the point. 

Frieza smiled with amusement. That sickening smile of his. “Granted. Now off you go.” He waved his lizardy hand for them to leave. 

Vegeta stood, and spun on his heel, leading his squad to do the same. They guided Bulma out of the control room and into the ship hangar. There, Vegeta let out a frustrated scream. 

“Of course he granted it. There’s no fucking _ ships _ available.” Vegeta cursed. 

“Captain, we can just take pods and call in for a ship later to take us and the pods back.” Raditz tried to calm the fuming Captain. 

“Raditz, we cannot put the woman in a pod because she’ll fucking die on impact.” Vegeta hissed. 

“Just put her in your pod and protect her. We can even get her some armor.” Nappa said. 

Tarble chuckled. “If there’s armor small enough to fit me, there’s armor small enough to fit her.”

“Not to mention that little pipsqueak from earlier. What was his name? Cabba?” Tama laughed. The other men laughed with him. 

“Anyway, let’s get this shit show going. Raditz, find her some armor. Nappa, collect the appropriate number of pods at the hangar exit. Tama, shut the hell up. Tarble, make sure Tama shuts the f- Wait. Who the fuck are they?” Vegeta’s eyebrow began to twitch in irritation as a group of Saiyans approached.

“Goku!” Bulma shouted and ran over, leaping onto the large man and giving him a big hug. 

Vegeta furrowed his brows at the sight, but said nothing. 

“Hiya Bulma! I was snatched from kame house by this real muscular guy who has hair like mine!” Goku gestured to Bardock, who stood by him with a grumpy expression.

“F-Father?” Raditz stuttered. He’d returned to the group with a uniform for Bulma. 

Bardock only nodded in his direction. 

“Please tell me you’re not assigned to this fucking mission as well, Captain.” Vegeta said to Bardock. 

“Fuck no! I’m just here to drop off the kid.” Bardock snorted. “I’m still on shitter patrol.”

“Well cleaning toilets serves you right for trying to go rogue, dumbass.” Nappa laughed, and Bardock chuckled as well.

“It was damn well worth it if I do say so myself.” Bardock added.

“WAIT! That’s our DAD?” Goku shouted, eyes wide. He stared in Bardock’s direction like a small child seeing a magic trick unfold in front of him. 

Raditz groaned. “Yes, _ Kakarot _, that is our father. You literally look exactly like him. How the fuck could you not be sure?

“Well this guy named Turtle has the same hair as me too! Is he our brother?” Goku asked, scratching his head in confusion. 

“For the last time, my _ name _ is _ Turles. Not. Turtle. _” Turles hissed through his teeth. The tall man was visibly irritated with his younger doppelganger. 

“N-” Raditz was cut off. _ Typical of me to be cut off. _ He thought to himself. 

“Who fucking cares? Everyone going on this mission, grab a goddamn pod and let’s get this over with. For fuck’s sake.” Vegeta barked, rubbing his temples in frustration and annoyance. To an outsider, he probably seemed like a carelessly rude man, which at some times, sure, he could be. The biggest reason for his aggressiveness and strictness was for a reason he’d never admit.

“Also, Turles will be joining as well. They’ve both been assigned to the Saiyan Squad. Einstein over here was assigned because he’s a newbie, and the pretty boy here was assigned because he can’t seem to play nice with other species.” Bardock rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t call me pretty, asshole!” Turles raised his fist in fury as he shouted at the Captain next to him.

“Well you look like me, and I’m devilishly handsome, but you’re only a boy. Therefore, you’re pretty.” Bardock teased. Turles clenched his fists in annoyance, but said nothing further. 

Vegeta closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was moments away from losing his temper, but before he could open his mouth to bark orders, the blue haired woman spoke up.

“HEY.” Bulma yelled. All eyes snapped to her. “WE NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND OVER TO 481, WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT IS, SO YOU BLOCKHEADS CAN COMPLETE YOUR MISSION AND GET BACK BEFORE FRIEZA HAS ALL OF OUR ASSES. GET MOVING.” As if by magic, all men started running around getting to their places, none noticing her attire. None except for a flame haired Captain and a scar faced Captain. Bardock smirked as he observed Vegeta’s body language. Vegeta stared at Bulma in a way the other captain was all too familiar with. 

“Well, I’m gonna go see Gine. Captain.” Bardock waved as he walked away, still smirking. Vegeta hardly noticed.

“Alright, everyone in their pods, Raditz, you lead. I have to make sure Bulma knows where all the safety bullshit is.” 

“Yes Captain. Let’s roll out men.” Raditz said, getting into his double pod with his brother, Goku. The squad did the same, each getting into their respective pods and blasting off into the darkness of space. 

“Why didn’t we take the double pod?” Bulma asked. 

“Double pods, while offering more room, are more dangerous than regular pods because they can get hit on one side and flung into a death spin that only contact with the ground can stop.” Vegeta explained patiently. He was strangely calm around her. 

“Oh, that makes sense. Well then, how are we going to sit in the pod?” Bulma asked. 

Vegeta’s face went red. _ Shit. _ “Well I hadn’t really thought that part out, actually. It’s going to be a tight fit sitting side by side.” Vegeta rubbed his chin in thought.

“Well, there’s another way we could sit.” Bulma said. 

“What?” Vegeta asked. 

Bulma took him by the wrist and pulled him over to the pod. “Okay. Get in.”

“Woman, we both have to-” 

“Just get in the damn pod.”

Vegeta got in the pod and sat down. “Kay, now wh-”

Bulma ducked into the pod, spread Vegeta’s knees, and sat down between them, and buckled them both in. “See? And this way, it’ll also be more difficult for impact to thrash us around.”

Vegeta found the warmth from her back to be a comforting feeling against his chest. “Yeah, that was a good idea.” He answered, somewhat distracted by her sweet scent and the softness of her body. 

“Vegeta, are you okay?” Bulma asked, unable to look at him. 

“Yes.” He answered. He reached around her waist and held her with one hand, slightly leaning her to the left so he could see the control panel. He reached over with his right hand, pressed a few buttons, and slammed the launch sequence button with his fist. “Okay. Lean back, and I’m going to hold you because it’s an abrupt launch.” 

“Okay, gotcha.” Bulma leaned back into his chest, and blushed when she felt his arms wrap around her, holding her securely against him. She also felt his knees press against her thighs. Bulma Briefs was flustered. Thoughts of what the others had said about her having a thing for Vegeta floated about in her mind, but were quickly interrupted when the pod felt like it was being kicked off the hangar launch area by Nappa. Bulma squealed and Vegeta tightened his arms around her until they were moving at a steady pace.

Bulma was struggling to breathe from the speed they were traveling and Vegeta realized she wasn’t used to the harsh conditions of Saiyan Military conditions, traveling or otherwise. 

Vegeta instructed her on how to control her breathing and after a few minutes, Bulma wasn’t struggling to breathe anymore. She adjusted her chest plate and stuck her hands between her thighs because they were cold. 

“Did you not receive a pair of gloves?” Vegeta asked.

“No, Raditz just brought me the boots, armor, and suit.” She answered. 

“I swear if he didn’t have people to tell him where his head was, he’d think it was his ass.” Vegeta grumbled. “Wear mine for now.” He slid his gloves off and handed them to her. 

“Thanks. I appreciate it, but also, you know, try not to be so hard on the guys.” She said. Shaky hands grabbed onto to gloves, icy fingers brushing against hot ones. “They bust their asses just for you.”

“That’s all fine and well, but if they don’t think shit through and actually focus on what they’re doing, they’re going to just get us all killed.” The prince hissed.

“Well you know not everyone performs well under pressure, asshole!” Bulma hissed back. 

“Would you like to lead the team, then? Go to the depths of space and give them slack, and then watch them all die?” Vegeta growled.

Bulma said nothing, her hands still shaking. 

The jaded Saiyan warrior couldn’t believe how cold Bulma’s touch was, and out of instinct, he wrapped his hands around hers. Neither spoke a word, but they sat in comfortable silence while a lonely pair of gloves sat in her lap.


	6. Mating Rituals

About an hour and a half later, Bulma and Vegeta were chatting away while they awaited their landing. “So, have Saiyan parents ever given birth to twins?” Bulma asked. 

“I’ve never known any to, but I can’t speak for the entirety of my race on that. Maybe there were Saiyan twins at some point, I don’t know.” Vegeta answered. 

“Okay, next question. Do Saiyans have a mating ritual?”

The question caught him off guard. Saiyans did have a type of mating ritual, and once the prince heard the question, a rotten feeling started to spread in his stomach. Not only did Saiyans  _ have _ a mating ritual, but he and Bulma had unknowingly been participating in it. But how? She was an Earth woman, how could some human participate in the mating ritual of an alien race? He didn’t know the answer to that, but he realized once the mating ritual had started, there was little he could do to stop it unless one of them died, and his Saiyan instincts would never let that happen. As the prince brooded to himself, Bulma turned around to look at him. Her big blue eyes met his and he felt it. The roar of the Oozaru inside of him calling out to his mate. Vegeta broke his stare into Bulma’s eyes and looked away. “Of course Saiyans have a mating ritual.”

“Would you tell me about it? I’m very interested to know.” Bulma leaned back into him, causing that warm feeling in his chest to grow stronger as well.

“There isn’t much to tell. The female challenges the male which triggers his primal instinct and they form an unbreakable bond where the male and female’s instincts are then connected.” Vegeta said, slowly wrapping his arms around Bulma again.

Bulma felt his arms wrapping around her but didn’t think anything of it. “How does the female challenge the male?” She asked.

“It’s usually a challenge of will.” Vegeta said, his voice softer this time.

“I see… So, have you ever bonded with anyone?” She asked. 

Vegeta thought very carefully about how to answer her question and after a long pause, he finally spoke. 

“Yes.”

“What happened?” Bulma asked.

“She didn’t realize she’d challenged me. So it was one-sided.” 

“How did she not realize it?” Bulma turned to look at him again. 

Vegeta kept his eyes away from hers. “We are not of the same race or species.”

“How interesting!” Bulma rubbed her chin in thought. “Well, does she know how you feel?”

“It’s unlikely. Saiyan men aren’t notorious for verbally expressing their feelings, and someone of another species or race wouldn’t be able to recognize the gestures of affection the male portrays.”

“Well I think you should tell her, if you still have feelings for her, that is.”

Vegeta finally met her gaze. “Perhaps I should, but I don’t know for sure if she even feels the same way, and it would be a waste if she revealed that she didn’t possess the same feelings.” 

“Well you’ll never know if you do-” Bulma’s voice was cut off as she suddenly felt Vegeta’s thumb brushing her bottom lip.

He stared at her with an intensity she had never seen before. She was about to say something to him when he turned her around to face away from him again and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “Brace for impact.” He said in her ear, sending pleasant chills down her spine.

She obeyed his direction, and squealed when the pod finally made contact with the ground. Once the pod had stopped sliding, Bulma unclenched her death grip from Vegeta’s arms and let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

“Are you okay?” Vegeta asked. 

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. We should hurry though, I’m sure the rest of the squad is waiting for us.” Bulma said looking for a button to open the pod.

“I agree.” Vegeta said with a satin texture to his voice as his leg lifted and he kicked the pod door open. “The door usually gets dented into place on impact, so it’s better to kick it open than to put stress on the opening mechanism.” Vegeta gave her a gentle push out of the pod, and he jumped out after her. 

“Captain, there you are. Do you have the mission information?” Raditz asked as he flew down to them along with the rest of the squad.

“I do.” Vegeta answered. “First, does anyone have some gloves?”

“Here.” Tarble stepped closer to Vegeta and handed him a spare pair of gloves which Vegeta handed to Bulma. Her face was still red from the feeling of Vegeta’s thumb on her lip. 

“T-Thanks.”

“Bulma, you good? You look a bit red.” Raditz said, wiggling his eyebrows, the rest of the men trying to hide the amused smirks on their faces. 

“I’ll end all of you, I swear to Kami.” Bulma growled as she yanked the gloves on her hands. 

Vegeta was adjusting his own gloves back onto his hands as well. “We need to find village 332. Our orders are to interrogate.” He said, his voice returning to its normal commanding tone.

Bulma got herself under control. “What are you interrogating them about?”

“Someone has been cutting contact with sellers and we need to figure out who is behind it.” Tarble answered. 

“What if the people you interrogate don’t have the information you’re looking for?” Bulma asked.

The men looked at each other quietly, none wanting to answer her question.

“Just tell me.”

“We wipe them out and take the planet by force, only imprisoning the stronger ones to then work for Frieza.” Raditz answered quietly. 

“Oh.” Bulma looked down. “Like… what happened to you guys.”

All of the Saiyan men suddenly felt a sharpness in their chests. “Yes. Like that.” Nappa answered. “The difference is that we make it as painless as we can for them instead of dragging out the pain. It’s not any better, but at least they don’t suffer.” 

“Do you guys do these missions often?” Bulma asked.

“It depends on what Frieza wants at the time we are sent, but being that we are the elite squad, yes, usually we are the ones who do that job as well as many others.” Vegeta said. “We need to get moving. Frieza is going to notice our scouter signatures haven’t moved and he’s going to get impatient.

“Agreed.” The men said and moved out.

“You get back in the pod. We’ll be back.” Vegeta said, still standing near Bulma.

“What? Why’d you bring me along if I’m just gonna sit around?” Bulma pouted.

“Woman, you don’t need to be around these people, they’re an aggressive species, and if they don’t provide the information we need… you don’t need to see what happens. Stay in the pod until we come back.”

“I’m grown, I can handle whatever happens!” Bulma snapped.

“I  _ said _ , get in the damn pod, woman.” Vegeta stepped closer, glaring at her.

“No!” Bulma yelled stepping around him.

Vegeta smirked and stepped in front of her again, his face only inches from hers. “Being disobedient is unwise when dealing with a predator like me.”

The heiress stopped short, her face turning red again. She started to step back as Vegeta kept getting closer. 

“If you won’t do as I say, I’ll have to use force.” Vegeta raised an eyebrow as he spoke in a predatory tone of voice. Bulma stumbled back and fell ungracefully into the pod seat. Vegeta quickly closed the latch and Bulma banged on the door screaming, but Vegeta could only see her angry face and her mouthing some rather filthy words at him. He waved, and flashed an amused smile at her. It was the first genuine smile she’d ever seen from him, and it rendered her speechless. He had a dazzling smile and Bulma found herself flustered even more than before. She touched her lips as she was left alone with her thoughts.

The Saiyans had finally reached a small dome shaped structure where the leader of the people of planet 481 resided. It was cramped and damp inside. The inhabitants of the planet were lizard like creatures who enjoyed humidity and created housing that held in the warmth and moisture well. Tarble wiped the sweat off his forehead as he leaned against a wall while his older brother interrogated the creature. Raditz and Nappa shifted uncomfortably in the humid room, wishing for the less intense humid environment outside they’d complained about only an hour ago. Goku occupied himself by twiddling his thumbs quietly, and Turles stared at the ground absentmindedly.

“Now, I’m going to ask you again. And this time, Glechor, I expect an honest answer. If I feel even the slightest hint of deceit from you, there will be consequences which I am certain you are not prepared to pay.” Vegeta spoke in a dangerously calm tone of voice as he paced back and forth in front of the creature. Glechor was a tall, orange skinned lizard type creature with five long, sharp claws on either hand. His snout was long and came to a point at the end where his razor sharp teeth hung over his bottom jaw in a dramatic overbite, framed by a bright pink nose and a set of totally black eyes. Glechor wrung his hands together, clacking the claws against each other as his whole body fidgeted nervously. 

“P-Prince Vegeta, I can assure you, the only outside contact this zone has had other than to you is with a man who calls himself Yugni. He has arranged to meet with me on our planet in the next cycle of moons.” The orange creature said nervously.

“Nappa, time translation.” Vegeta said in his native tongue, staring into Glechor’s large black eyes.

“That would be two weeks our time, sir.” The large Saiyan man answered to his captain.

“Sending report to command now.” Raditz said as he pressed a few buttons on his scouter.

In mere seconds, a response had pinged back on the long haired Saiyan’s scouter. “Command confirmed, we are to return to base to prepare for a covert mission immediately.” Also speaking the Saiyan native tongue.

“Understood. Glechor, you will meet with this ‘Yugni’ and conduct your business.” Vegeta said, reverting to basic galactic language. 

“That’s all? You’re not going to purge us?” Glechor asked fearfully.

“No. You have been honest and have served us well. I believe Frieza would agree you’re a valuable asset. You and your people will live.” Vegeta adjusted his gloves again. “Assuming you don’t cross us.” 

Glechor squeaked in fear when Vegeta shot a small and harmless blast of ki to the ground inches from Glechor’s feet. “Just remember who you’re dealing with. Whether you serve Frieza out of loyalty or fear, know that crossing me is crossing him, which is a death sentence. A slow and painful death sentence. Farewell, Glechor.” Vegeta said as he walked out of the dome shaped house. 

As they all took to the skies of 481, Turles stopped short. “Captain!” He hissed to Vegeta who snapped his attention to where Turles had pointed. Not far off in the distance, there were pods that looked familiar in a way that made Vegeta sick to his stomach.”

“Oh no.” Tarble said as he noticed the pods as well. 

“We’re fucked.” Raditz groaned. 

“Guys, try to stay calm, we don’t know what they want yet.” Nappa said, trying to conceal the panic threatening to break his voice.

“Those assholes don’t just show up the exchange niceties, Nappa, we’re definitely fucked.” Turles snarled. 

“What? What’s going on, guys? I don’t get it.” Goku looked around at his cohorts with confusion. 

“Man this was supposed to be my week off!” Tama clenched his fists.

“Guys?” Goku repeated.

“The Ginyu Force.” All the other men said in chilling unison with a thick layer finality to their voices. 

“Who are they and why is that bad news?” Goku asked. 

“They’re a group of high and mighty assholes with magical princess powers who beat the shit out of those that Frieza wants to toy with… and apparently, it’s our turn to get our asses beat.” Raditz groaned again.

“Fuck that. This time, we’re going to get rid of them, and we’ll tell Frieza they never showed.” Vegeta grinned with bloodlust in his eyes.

The rest of the men mimicked his smirk, all except for Goku who simply frowned. “Well, I guess we gotta do what’s best for us.”

With that, the men took off flying at top speed to wreak havoc on the group of fighters. 

Bulma had fallen asleep in the pod after giving up on trying, unsuccessfully, to kick the door open as Vegeta had. She woke to a loud knocking sound. “Vegeta?” She said sleepily as she jumped awake. “AH!” She screamed when she saw an unfamiliar man with bright red skin and long white hair standing in front of the large pod window. She stayed still, unsure if the man could see her or not.

“Anyone in there?” he yelled. When he didn’t get a response, he turned and called off to someone, but Bulma couldn’t hear what was said. She’d taken a breath of relief when he seemed to be walking away until she heard the door being pried open, and she started screaming. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vegeta and his men gasped when they heard the familiar scream of the blue haired woman. “SHIT!” Vegeta and Raditz shouted in unison. 

“Kakarot, have you reached Super Saiyan?” Vegeta shouted at Goku. 

“Yes! I have!” Goku answered as he powered up, his hair flashing blonde and his eyes turning blue. 

“Excellent.” Vegeta grinned evilly as he did the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Get away from me!” Bulma screamed as the door opened and the red skinned man grabbed her arm.

“You must be the mechanic.” A large, deep voiced, purple man said. He had two black horns on either side of his head, and he sported a green lensed scouter. 

Bulma ripped her arm from the grip of the red man. “Don’t fucking touch me.” She snarled.

There were five of them, all from seemingly different races. The purple one seemed to be the leader as the group stood in formation, which Bulma found to be strange. There were two other tall men, one appeared human, or at least humanoid, and had a fluff of red hair on top of his mainly bald head, a blue skinned man with a large crater on either side of his head which Bulma assumed to be ear holes, then a squatty green creature, and then the short red man. 

“I’ll rip your fucking throat out you creep!” Bulma screamed at the red man. 

“You better watch this one, Jeice. She’s fiery and full of rage.” The blue man laughed. 

“Who the fuck are you guys and why are you bothering me?” Bulma asked, making her voice as menacing as she could.

“We were sent by Lord Frieza, little miss, and we’re the Ginyu Force.” Jeice said. 

“I’m Captain Ginyu,” the purple man said, “that’s Jeice, that’s Burter” he pointed to the red man, then the blue man, “this is Guldo” he gestured to the squatty green creature, “and this is Recoome.” he said finally gesturing to the tall humanoid ginger man. “We’re here to… ‘speak’ with the Saiyan squad. Might you point us in their direction?” Ginyu asked.

“If you’re so important, then Frieza must have told you where they’d be. I was only brought along to repair if need be. I don’t have mission intel.” Bulma answered with too much sass in her voice as she crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her hips. She glared with defiance. 

Ginyu chuckled. “I see, well, we’ll go ahead and take you with us to search for them since you look so lonely out here.”

Bulma’s eyes widened. “You will not lay a  _ finger _ on me! I will report to Frieza that you harassed a mechanic!” She screeched. The men suddenly went from looking predatory to frightened and uncomfortable. “Yeah that’s right! Back off!” Bulma raised her fist in the air at them but stopped yelling when she heard a familiar chuckle behind her. 

“Woman, you certainly possess no fear.” Vegeta said, smirking as she stared at his blonde hair and blue eyes in awe.

“What happened to y-”

“Get in the pod.”

“Okay.” Bulma scurried back to the pod and jumped in. Tarble slammed the door shut and flew over to the group.

Bulma could no longer hear what was going on, but she watched tentatively out the window. 

“Sup Ginyu?” Vegeta cocked his head to the side as he smugly greeted the large purple alien.

“Ah, Prince Vegeta. How are you these days? Looking well since the last time I was sent to discipline you like the spoiled brat you’ve always been.” Ginyu said with an edge to his voice. “Nice to see you and a friend have decided to change up your looks. I guess looking pretty is pretty important to such a worthlessly weak race, huh?”

The Saiyan men clenched their fists and grit their teeth while their captain simply laughed. 

“You remember the split I left on your head? I’m wondering if that spot is still sensitive after it’s healed.” Jeice said with a savage smile, revealing stark white teeth. 

“Why don’t you take a step closer and find out, Jeice?” Vegeta said. 

“First I’d like to know who blue eyes is.” Jeice said gesturing with his eyes to the pod with Bulma in it.

Vegeta’s smirk faded. “It’s not your concern, Jeice, I can assure you that your biggest issue is me right now.”

“Ah, touch a nerve did I?” Jeice said. “Is she something to you?”

“I  _ said _ , she’s  _ not _ your concern.” Vegeta growled. 

While the men talked, Bulma fiddled with the controls of the pod and realized she could connect to the scouters receivers so that she could hear what was going on. She pulled a capsule out from her chest plate, pressed the button, and out popped a tool box. She tinkered with a few wires and pressed a few buttons and was able to tune in without struggle. 

“...Touch the woman and I’ll make sure I decorate this planet with your entrails, Jeice.” Vegeta snarled.

The other Saiyans were surprised at his reaction, but all agreed. 

“Yeah, you should worry about what we’re going to do to  _ you _ , pretty boy.” Tama said, finally using the nickname he detested on someone else. 

In what seemed like a flash, Guldo was suddenly in front of Tarble and had jammed his fist through Tarble’s stomach. 

Bulma screamed in horror as she saw Guldo rip his fist out from Tarble’s stomach and saw Tarble drop to his knees. Blood quickly stained his uniform and he started getting pale very quickly. Bulma screamed and banged on the door of the pod, crying out for the squad to save the young prince.

Vegeta took a deep breath in. “You shouldn’t have done that.” With nearly the same quickness, he was behind Guldo and ripping his head from his body. “Down, boy.” he said to the body as he threw it aside with the head.

Bulma covered her eyes.

Ginyu took a decisive step forward and swung hard at Vegeta, hitting him squarely in the jaw. Vegeta grabbed his wrist and squeezed with devastating pressure, causing Ginyu’s bones to crack. Tama and Turles launched themselves at Burter and struggled to keep up with his speed. Jeice threw several punches non stop to keep Nappa at bay until the large Saiyan had enough of Jeice, and grabbed him by the hair, flinging him to the ground. Goku and his brother, Raditz flung ki blasts at Recoome and dodged his punches with incredible agility until Recoome faked them out and grabbed them both by the throat and lifted them off the ground, slamming their skulls together. 

Bulma peeked through her fingers and watched helplessly through the window and gasped as Vegeta flew up and out of sight before suddenly dropping back to the ground on his feet right in front of the window. “Fuck off, Ginyu!” He screamed as he raised his palm and released a blinding stream of ki in Ginyu’s direction. It didn’t seem to do any good, though, and Ginyu grabbed Vegeta by the throat and started slowly applying pressure. 

“I’m sorry, Prince, but I’ve grown tired of you, and I’m sure Frieza has too. And I’m going to make sure to rid us both of you.” Ginyu hissed to Vegeta.

“I won’t let you win, Ginyu. I have a goal, and you won’t get in the way of it.” Vegeta slammed his fist straight through Ginyu’s heart and ripped his hand back out in the same fashion Guldo had done to Tarble’s stomach. “That was for my brother, you fucking scum.” Ginyu dropped to the ground and ran off to assist Goku. 

The other men fought for a while longer until Vegeta commanded their final hit. “AAO.” Vegeta said.

“All At Once!” The men screamed back, all powering up. 

“Haaaaa!” they screamed. 

“Ka-me-ha-me-HA!” Goku screamed.

“Big Bang Attack!” Vegeta yelled. 

The final combined blow of all of their ki was enough to wipe out the enemy, leaving only their lifeless bodies. When they were finished, they all dropped to the ground. Bulma watched them all lie on the ground, beaten, bruised, and bloody. Tarble had crawled over to the pod and ripped the door open again. 

“Tarble!” Bulma yelled launching out of the pod and throwing another capsule on the ground. She grabbed the first aid kit it held and jammed a senzu bean in his mouth. “Chew it.” While he complied, she rummaged through her first aid bag until she found what she needed to clean and seal his wound until they could get him back to base to be tended to properly.

He obeyed as Bulma dressed his wound and packed it as best she could. “You need a healing tank, like, soon.” She said worriedly. 

The blue beauty tended to everyone’s wounds and finally walked over to Vegeta. “Hi.” She said softly. 

Vegeta’s hair had gone back to black and he turned his head to look at her. “Hello, woman.”

“Where are you hurt?” Bulma asked.

“My jaw and throat are a bit sore, but other than that I’m fine.”

Bulma gasped. “Fine my ass! You’re bleeding!” Bulma noticed blood on the Prince’s uniform.

“Relax, woman, that’s Ginyu’s blood. Not mine.” Vegeta sat upright and applied pressure to the spot with blood. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

“Thank goodness. I’m glad everyone is okay.” Bulma sighed.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here. We have preparations to make.” Vegeta said, getting up and walking back to the pod, Bulma’s wrist in his hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So he said he was in contact with some guy named Yugni?” Bulma asked. “Isn’t that just an anagram for Ginyu?” She’d scribbled the names down and realized if she’d spelled “Yugni” correctly, it really was an anagram.

“Well, if it really  _ was _ Ginyu, then we’ll find out soon enough when Yugni doesn’t make an appearance to meet with Glechor. However, if Glechor does meet with someone, then it was never Ginyu.” Raditz said. 

“Unless…” Tarble was deep in thought. 

“What is it?” Tama asked. 

“Well, didn’t it seem a little too easy for us to defeat the Ginyu Force?” Tarble asked, gently holding his abdomen. It was still a bit tender after his time in the healing tank and having a fist slammed through it definitely wasn’t a pleasant thing. “Normally we’d incinerate the enemy to ensure they’re dead, right?”

“I decided to do an experiment.” Vegeta said, finally joining the conversation. All eyes shifted to him. “Their bodies are still on 481. If it’s Ginyu that’s behind this, we’ll know right away because his race heals slowly, so if he shows up it will likely be difficult for him to function. And there’s no way he’d go anywhere without what’s left of his squad if he was in a weakened condition. Which means h-”

“He won’t show up at all.” Bulma finished. 

“Correct. Smart woman.” Vegeta said.

The men blinked at the compliment Vegeta had given, and even Bulma was surprised. 

“What?” Vegeta snarled. “None of you shit-for-brains morons guessed it.” 

Bulma giggled. Eventually she was back in ship hangar working on a ship meant for Zarbon. She had considered programming it to explode mid transit and rid herself and everyone of his sorry ass, but she’d also considered that it may not bode well for her should she rid Frieza of his right hand man. She stepped out of the ship after programming the flight sequence settings, and was surprised to see Vegeta sitting on one of the work benches, his body completely relaxed. 

“Captain?” Bulma said softly. 

Vegeta opened his eyes. “Yes?”

“What uh, what are you doing here?” Bulma wiped sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. 

“I find the sounds of ship repair to be relaxing.” 

Bulma raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “You find drills meant for aircraft to be relaxing? The same drills that have a high pitched whine loud enough to bust even a saiyan’s eardrums to be relaxing?”

“That’s what I said.”

“I don’t believe you.” She said.

“Believe what you wish.”

“I believe that you like me.” Bulma challenged.

“I don’t dislike you.” Vegeta mused. 

“No, Vegeta. I think you..” Bulma sashayed her hips as she walked closer to him and planted her hands on either side of him on the workbench he sat at. “... _ like _ me.”

Vegeta was taken aback by her boldness, but he could feel his chest rumble involuntarily at her display of temptation. “As I said, believe what you wish.” He said, deciding to see how far she’d test him. 

Bulma frowned, obviously annoyed that he wasn’t playing along the way she wanted. 

“But let’s say that I did.” Vegeta finally spoke, breaking the tense silence. “Then what?”

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll never know since you haven’t confirmed or denied anything.” Bulma pulled away and turned to head back to fixing up the ship when she felt his strong warm hand grip her wrist. He pulled her to him, spinning her back around to face him.

“Where do you think you’re going, woman?” Vegeta spoke in that velvety voice again.

The heiress’s face turned pink as she remembered the touch of his thumb against her lip. “Vegeta…”

“Yes?” He leaned closer, tilting his head slightly.

“Have we formed the bond you mentioned in the Saiyan mating ritual? You said you’d formed a bond with someone not of your race.” Bulma whispered, her intelligent blue eyes searching his. 

The prince hesitated. He could tell her here and now that it was true; that he had formed an unbreakable bond with her and that he’d do anything for her. He parted his lips to whisper his answer back to her when he was interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone. Bulma paid it no mind and maintained her stare into the prince’s eyes. 

“You should get that.” Vegeta said as the phone continued to ring. 

“They can leave a message.” Bulma said as the ringing finally stopped. 

“Bulma, I h-” Vegeta was cut off once again by the woman’s phone ringing persistently, almost demanding that she answer it.

“Damnit!” She yelled, frustratedly throwing her hands up in the air and then snatching her phone off her work belt. “What?” She snarled into the phone. “Oh my god. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“What’s happened?” Vegeta stood up.

“It’s my.. friend, Yamcha. He’s badly hurt. I have to go.” Bulma’s eyes began to fill with tears.


	7. Kiss Me

The men complied, but were surprised when Vegeta didn’t demand to be seated in the main control chair. Take off was smooth, but a lot faster than the men were used to. Vegeta stood behind the control chair and stole glances at Bulma here and there. Admiring her and the way she took charge of the situation and decided she’d lead them to where they needed to be. Little did she know, help of a higher caliber was on its way for her Earth friend than the woman was aware of. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Captain, what am I supposed to do with this?” Raditz held up a capsule with a confused expression on his face. “How is this healing tank possibly going to fit in this tiny thing?” 

Vegeta smirked. “Press the button on top and throw it at the healing tank.”

Raditz did as he was told and to his surprise, the healing tank and its hardware vanished and in its place lay the capsule he’d thrown. “Woah! What the hell!” He shouted. 

“The woman’s family invented those. Smart, eh?” Vegeta said.

“Oh? Was that a compliment?” Raditz raised an eyebrow. 

Vegeta was quiet for a moment. “Yes. And also the damn truth.”

Raditz was surprised for a moment before nodding in understanding. “Bonded, huh?”

“It would seem so.” Vegeta answered. 

“Have you told her yet?”

“I had planned to, but you know… her damned phone started ringing.”

“Ah, that’s why you were in such a bad mood, and why you’d been acting weirdly protective on 481.”

“Tch. Shut up, Raditz.”

“Hiya guys! Vegeta I heard you like Bulm-OOF!” Goku had walked in the room after hearing everything, but was promptly punched in the stomach before finishing his sentence. 

“Will you just shut the fuck up, Kakarot?” Vegeta hissed. 

“V-Vegeta, don’t be like that! Ugh, ouchie.” Goku tenderly rubbed his stomach. “Anyway, I’ve known Bulma for a long time if you ever want some tips on how to get her to notice you. I mean heck, you could even ask Yamcha! He’d know even better than me!” Goku said good naturedly. 

“Why would that other Earth man know better than you? I thought you said she was one of your best friends?” Vegeta asked. 

“Well Yamcha is her ex boyfriend! So he knows pretty much everything there is to know about Bulma. Even what she likes when they…” Goku leaned forward to whisper. “...kiss.” Goku said it like it was NSFW, and Raditz tried his hardest not to laugh as he watched Vegeta’s eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

“So, competition, eh?” Raditz teased Vegeta.

“I don’t give a fuck.”

“But what if she falls for him again?” Raditz said.

“Hey guys what’s up?” Nappa asked as he walked in with Turles, Tama, and Tarble. 

“‘Geta’s got the hots for Bulma.” Raditz said. 

“You motherfu-” Vegeta raised his fist at Raditz.

“Yeah! And we’re going to Earth to see Bulma’s ex-boyfriend.” Goku chuckled.

“Kakarot, I swear to the very gods of Vegetasei that I will kill you if you don’t knock it off with that goddamn word.” Vegeta clenched his fists in annoyance. “If she-Bulma, is everything ready?”

“Yup, everything is good to go. Also, what word? And she who?” Bulma asked. 

The men in the room shifted uncomfortably at her questions. “Oh, Saiyan stuff. Gotcha. Well, let’s get me back to the place I actually belong, huh?” 

Vegeta did his best not to have an emotional burst. “Bulma, you belong here. With us, on this ship, and every ship after. Just because you’re not the same species as us doesn’t have a damn thing to do with whether you belong here or not. I just… Need to speak with you at some point in the very near future. Privately.” The prince grit his teeth. 

The heiress’ eyebrows raised while also knitting together. “Oh, uh, okay. Whatever you need.”

“Actually, now might be a good time, since we have a few things we need to do before we get to Earth. It’ll take about 15-20 minutes max. That cool, Bulma?” Raditz asked. 

“Wait no I don’t thi-” Vegeta looked at Raditz.

“Now or never, asshole.” Raditz said.

“That’s fine, Raditz.” Bulma looked to Vegeta. “Would you like to speak somewhere more private?”

“Yeah, um, I guess the sleeping quarters will suffice.” Vegeta rubbed his temples as he led the way. They stepped into the room and Vegeta closed the door behind them, and trudged over to the bed, taking a seat at the edge of the foot of the bed. “Come sit, Bulma.”

Bulma obeyed, and sat herself closely next to him. He could feel her warmth and smell her sweet scent, and almost jumped out of his skin when he felt her suddenly grab his arm and hug it tightly. “What did you want to talk about?”

“You asked me a question.” Vegeta began.

“About… the mating ritual? And who you’d bonded with?” Bulma said.

“The answer is yes. I have bonded with you.” Vegeta avoided her stare. “I didn’t intend on telling you until after we’d helped your... _ friend _ … but Raditz didn’t give me much of a choice.” Vegeta said, his voice shaking ever so slightly.

“So what does that mean for us?” Bulma asked, surprising him.

“You’re not angry?” Vegeta asked suspiciously.

“No? Why would I be? It’s a natural thing your species goes through.” Bulma answered.

_ She’s rejecting you _ . Vegeta’s heart started to ache. “Ah, I see. You do not return the feelings.”

“When did I say that?” Bulma frowned. “I just asked what it means for us. Where do we go from here?”

Vegeta looked at his gloved hands. “It’s pretty much up to you. Saiyan men are pretty much helpless when it comes to defying a female they’ve bonded with, so, whatever you decide is what will happen. But I’d like you to tell me how you feel before you decide anything.”

“All I really know for sure right now is that I don’t like being separated from you and that I feel safe with you. I like being with you.” Bulma answered honestly. 

Vegeta smiled. “I’m glad to be that for you.”

“There is something I want.”

Vegeta looked the heiress in the eyes. “And what might that be?”

Bulma’s eyes sparkled. “Kiss me.”

The prince’s cheeks turned red. “You’re telling me to kiss you?”

Her eyes still sparkled playfully but her voice was serious. “Yes, I’m telling you to kiss me.”

Vegeta hesitated before leaning in slowly and listening as her heart started to pound. He stopped before he reached her lips. “Why are you so nervous?”   
  
“I don’t know. It’s you. You’ve made my heart do this since you touched my lips with your thumb.” Bulma whispered.

“Bulma, I’m not going to kiss you right now.” Vegeta leaned away and stood up.

She looked at him, confused. “I thought you said you had to do what I-”   


“I did, but I still have free will. As much as it goes against every instinct I have right now, I am not going to kiss you in this moment. A better, more appropriate moment will come, and if you still want me to kiss you, I’ll kiss you then. If I kiss you now, it’ll be like preying on you. You’re in an emotional state because of worry for your ‘friend’, and I am many things, but I am not a man who will take advantage of someone I care for when they’re vulnerable.” Vegeta stood tall and looked into her eyes seriously, but tenderly. Vegeta had never looked at her that way before, but it only stirred her emotions more. 

“I’m not vulnerable. I just want a kiss, Vegeta.” She stood up.

“You will get a kiss and whatever else you want when you’re not worried about this man.” Vegeta turned to walk away.

“Vegeta! Kiss me!” Bulma yelled, tears in her eyes. 

All at once, she felt his arms around her, his chin resting on top of her head, his heart beating furiously against her. He was holding her and she hadn’t known she needed to be held. She was so worried for Yamcha. She wanted Vegeta to comfort her intimately because it was all Yamcha knew to do when she was upset, therefore all she knew to ask for when she was upset. But the embrace she was sharing with Vegeta… it was something she never knew she needed. They stood there, suddenly unaware of their surroundings. Freiza himself ceased to exist for the moments they held each other. Bulma tilted her head up and looked at Vegeta. He met her gaze, and started to feel an urge. 

“Woman, don’t look at me like that, with those babydoll eyes.” Vegeta said, feeling his will to defy her wishes fading quickly. 

“Just a little kiss.” Bulma whispered.

“Woman…” Vegeta leaned in closer. 

“Just a tiny itty bitty kiss.” Bulma said, standing on her tippy toes. 

“Bul...ma..” Vegeta whispered, his lips a breath away from hers. “Bulma no, I can’t. I won’t. Not now. Not like this.” He said, coming to his senses and stepping away from her. 

Bulma frowned and stamped her foot. “Vegeta, just  _ kiss _ me! Don’t you want to?”

“Anyway, we need to get going if you’re to be to Earth in a timely manner.” Vegeta completely ignoring her question. Obviously he wanted to, but he wasn’t going to further complicate things for the both of them by kissing her right here, right now. 

She shot him a pouty look before sighing and deciding to just get on the ship. Besides, Yamcha really needed her, right? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once they made it to the ship and everyone was accounted for, the Saiyan men all put on their scouters and Vegeta started the launch sequence. The men all insisted Bulma take the on board bunk to rest until they arrived at Earth, but there was no way she’d get any rest with everything on her mind. She occasionally glanced in Vegeta’s direction to find him deep in thought. He sighed, running his gloved fingers through his hair. She wondered what he was thinking about, and partially hoped it was about her, but also hoped that it wasn’t. She was afraid he’d think about how he hadn’t kissed her and maybe decide that he never should. Bulma wasn’t usually one to lose sleep over men, but with this one in particular, she found herself more and more entranced by him. 

A set of bright blue eyes opened suddenly when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. It was Goku, waking her to let her know they were about to land. “Bulma, it’s time to wake up. We’re almost home.”

_ Home. _ It was funny, ever since she’d met Vegeta and his squad, suddenly “home” seemed to take on a meaning that had nothing to do with Earth and everything to do with the rowdy group of Saiyan men she’d come to love. “How long was I asleep?” Bulma yawned. She felt like shit.

“About 2 hours, but most of the time you were tossing and turning. An unrestful slumber often makes you feel like shit.” Nappa answered as he looked at his hand of cards. “Go fish.” He said, and Raditz reached for the pile of cards in front of them on a makeshift table made from a crate of blasters. 

The Capsule Corp heiress rubbed her eyes and started metnally preparing herself. She’d been away from home for a long time. Before she’d even made the agreement with Frieza, she’d been in space working on her own as an interstellar mechanic, and she hadn’t actually been on Earth for the past three years. It was going to be strange going to a planet that seemed only to exist in her memories now. She’d purposely stayed away from Earth because she’d begun to feel suffocated from what had happened with Yamcha and her well meaning but slightly overbearing parents. Bulma really wasn’t sure if she was ready to be reunited with everyone she loved on Earth, but it wasn’t like she had a choice now. 

The ship finally landed gently in the main grassy area of Capsule Corp from the coordinates Bulma had entered into the ship’s location system that she designed. She was able to have the ship land in the  _ exact _ spot she wanted; not an inch out of place. 

“Alright, so, ground rules. NO fighting with humans. Don’t cause trouble, be polite to my parents, don’t break anything. Simple enough?” Bulma said, facing the warriors. 

“Yeah, I think we can handle that.” Raditz said.

“Are all humans as tiny as you, Bulma?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Bulma nodded.

“I’ll feel right at home, then.” Tarble joked, allowing Bulma to laugh a little. 

“I’m fucking  _ hungry _ . What is there to eat on this planet?” Turles asked.

“Kami, there’s so much to eat on this planet, Turles! You’ll love it. Once we go see Yamcha, I’ll take you and anyone else that’s hungry to see my wife, and she’ll cook for us if I’m real nice to her.” Goku laughed as he thought about food.

“Goku, instead of putting that stress on ChiChi, why don’t we just order takeout for them all?” Bulma asked. 

“That’ll be expensive, Bulma!” Goku’s eyes widened. 

The heiress flipped her hair while sporting a smug look. “Well, I  _ am _ the richest woman on planet earth.” 

“I forgot about that! It’s been forever since I’ve seen you on Earth so I kinda forgot you’re from the richest family!” Goku said.

“ _ Anyway _ , isn’t your friend like, dying or something?” Raditz said, turning to Bulma. 

“Yeah, come inside and find somewhere to sit, I need to make some calls.” Bulma started trotting over to her house, giant alien warriors in tow. 

Vegeta followed Bulma while the rest of the men flopped down on the plush carpet and luxury couches. The prince watched Bulma pace worriedly as she dialed a number and held the phone up to her ear. Vegeta walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders to soothe her. She looked up at him with big blue eyes. “Thank you.” She mouthed. 

Vegeta only nodded in response. He heard a weak voice coming from the phone. It was a male voice, and when he saw the way Bulma reacted to the voice, he started to feel sick.

“Yamcha!? Yamcha! Where are you?” Bulma yelled into the phone. “I’m here, I’m on Earth again! Where are you?” Tears started to roll down her face.

“I’m at St. Kai Hospital right now.” the voice answered. 

“I’m on my way.” Bulma hung up and looked at Vegeta. “We’re heading to the hospital.”

He nodded, and informed his men. They all took off toward the hospital, following Bulma’s directions while she held onto Vegeta, riding piggyback style. 

Once they arrived at the hospital, Bulma walked purposefully to the information desk and got the room number Yamcha was in. Once she had it, she darted off to the elevators and nearly ran over a toddler and her mother on the way to the elevator. The squad of tall alien men ran after her, scaring the other people in the area half to death. They piled into the elevator, and all stood in uncomfortable silence until they all heard Bulma’s breathing become heavier, and they realized she was trying her best to keep herself from crying. 

“Bulma, let it out.” Raditz said. 

That was all it took. The heiress fell apart in the elevator, and unleashed heavy sobs. They all stood awkwardly behind her until Raditz nudged Vegeta as hard as he could. He nodded over in Bulma’s direction and nonverbally told Vegeta to comfort her. Vegeta’s face turned pink as he stepped closer to her, and she latched onto him, crying into his shoulder. 

He had never felt this kind of pain before, but his heart was aching with each sob Bulma let out. He could feel her pain beginning to grow, and without thinking, he propped his chin on the top of her head, and she started to calm down. “Bulma, we’ll slaughter whoever hurt your friend if that would help you feel better.” He said. 

Bulma looked up at him with big watery eyes and his heart nearly shattered at the sight. “You don’t have to do that. I just wanted you guys to be here for me in case the wounds were too bad and he couldn’t be saved.” She bit her lip knowing the dragon balls had gone missing, and the dragon ball locator she’d made so many years ago had stopped working as well. 

“Well, actually, Bulma, Vegeta thought about that. So we brought a healing tank.” Raditz said. “Since it’s made to heal wounds that warriors like us sustain, it should have no problems healing Yamcha.” 

Bulma hadn’t thought to bring a healing tank, and realized how clever of an idea it was. And then the part about it being Vegeta’s idea hit her and she looked up at him to see him blushing and avoiding eye contact. She smiled softly and just as she was about to speak, the elevator doors opened and Bulma rushed out when she saw Yamcha struggling to walk to the nurse’s station. She gently wrapped her arm around his waist and threw his arm around her shoulder. “Yamcha, why are you walking? And  _ look _ at you!” Bulma’s eyes welled up with tears. “Who did this to you?”

Yamcha smiled weakly at Bulma, but looked at her warmly. “I’m okay, Bulma, I got in a bar fight and got more than I bargained for.”

“Oh, Yamcha! Why do you have to be so stupid!?” Bulma yelled, angry tears running down her face.

Yamcha chuckled and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “It’s alright B. I just got out of bed to ask the nurse for some ice chips because no one was answering the buzzer thing, and they hadn’t been by in a while.” His body was battered, and his abdomen had been bound because of broken ribs. He had a nasty head wound that was oozing, and his left arm was badly broken. 

Bulma’s face began reflecting rage and she looked to her warrior friends. “Nappa! Will you take Yamcha back to his bed?”

“Sure thing, Bulma.” Nappa walked over and gently picked Yamcha up, who had confusion written all over his face.

The blue haired woman marched over behind the nurse’s station desk and slammed her fist onto a bright blue button. Several nurses came rushing over almost instantaneously and their faces paled when they saw the angry Capsule Corp heiress standing with her arms crossed over her chest and her foot tapping impatiently. 

“M-Miss Briefs! What can I help you with?” the head nurse asked nervously.

“Well, you see,” Bulma squinted at the woman’s ID “ _ Loren _ , my friend Yamcha has been buzzing you and your coworkers for a while and said you hadn’t been by recently to check on him. What the  _ fuck _ kind of people do they hire at this place if he can’t even get checked on routinely?” Bulma raged. 

The nurse fumbled over her words out of panic, and Raditz and Turles stepped in front of Bulma and flashed their most dazzling smiles. The nurses’ collective demeanor quickly shifted from anxious to flustered. “Hey, would you ladies be so kind as to get Yamcha some ice chips?” Raditz asked in a velvety smooth voice. 

The nurses all scrambled to fulfil the request and Turles even walked with them to keep them from wandering back to anywhere near Bulma.

“Bulma, I have never seen you so angry.” Raditz said. 

“You haven’t really pissed me off. Yet.” Bulma hissed.

After Bulma had calmed down, she went to speak to Yamcha for a while and smiled when Turles threw the capsule containing the healing tank down and it appeared in the room. 

“So, Yamcha, disrobe, and get into the tank, and you should be healed rather quickly.” Bulma said, shooing the men out of the room. She started to head for the door when Yamcha spoke up.

“Uh, B, I… I need help. I can’t really undress myself like this.” Yamcha said, fully embarrassed. 

“O-Oh! Okay, um, you guys stand outside the door and I’ll help Yamcha.” Bulma said awkwardly, and all of the eyes of the warriors simultaneously shot towards Vegeta who could barely contain his discomfort and displeasure.

Bulma was in the room with Yamcha for a good while until she finally opened the door. Before anyone could say anything to her, Vegeta grabbed her wrist and briskly walked to the elevator. Once the door closed behind them, he exhaled sharply. 

“Are you okay?” Bulma asked. 

“You were in there, touching his naked body. What do you think?” Vegeta growled. 

“Oh, grow up, Vegeta, all I did was help him get undressed so he could get into the tank, and I had to remove the bandages and stuff. It took a while because I had to remove the cast on his arm.” Bulma rolled her eyes. “Besides, what’s it to you?”

Vegeta looked at her with wide eyes. “‘ _ What’s it to me’ _ ? What do you  _ think _ ?”

Bulma had playfulness dancing in her mischievous blue eyes. “How am I to know?”

“Woman, I told you I’m not going to kiss you when you’re vulnerable, or anything else, for that matter.” Vegeta said seriously. 

Bulma frowned. “Vegeta, I’m fine. I didn’t know the healing tank was going to be a factor, and Yamcha is going to be fine.”

Vegeta looked at her thoughtfully, and walked toward her, forcing her to walk backwards until her back was pressed against the wall, and he trapped her there by leaning his hands against the wall. He leaned close to her and spoke softly into her ear. “Well I’m hardly in the mood, Bulma.” 

Her mind was almost completely distracted until she heard him chuckling. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re so easily flustered."

Bulma frowned. “Whatever.” She crossed her arms in a pout but let out a sound of surprise when Vegeta put his hand at the base of her neck and pulled her face to his so that their lips were pressed together, and Vegeta softly bit her bottom lip before requesting permission for his tongue to enter her mouth, which she eagerly granted by parting her lips. They lost track of time in the elevator, completely enveloped in their steamy liplock. Bulma pulled away breathlessly and stared up at Vegeta with swollen lips. It was all he could do not to take her right there, but he didn’t even know if that was what she wanted, so instead they rested their foreheads against each other, and caught their breath before the doors opened again. 


End file.
